An evaluation of disaster vulnerability in the Shimla Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

The geographical location of Shimla is such that it is environmentally fragile and ecologically highly vulnerable to multiple disasters. It lies in Himalayan region located in the Zone IV and V (about 99.62% area falls in Zone IV and 0.38% falls in Zone V) making the region liable to experience the earthquake of intensity MSK VIII or more. In addition to it, river Satluj, Giri, Pabar and their tributaries flow through renders the population living on the banks of these rivers susceptible to floods which can occur naturally or due to human activities. Nowadays due to the increasing developmental activities, the landslides are on the rise. Further the Shimla being enriched with the green cover leads to irreparable losses during summers due the incidents of forest fire. Consequently rendering the human lives and property situated in this district more vulnerable to the disaster. Keeping these problems in view, this paper comprises three objectives. They are: (a) to record the temporal incidences of disaster in the Shimla, (b) to analyse the spatial pattern of disasters in the Shimla and (c) to suggest measures of mitigation of the same. The investigation leads to analysis that the disasters are on the rise. Hence, there is a need to mitigate disasters and to prepare the community by way of capacity building to respond in a better way by adopting appropriate measures to reduce the adverse impacts.