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Landslides, Risk and Decision‐making in Kinnaur District: Bridging the Gap between Science and Public Opinion
Author(s) -
Pilgrim Nicholas Kumoi
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7717.00104
Subject(s) - landslide , bridging (networking) , environmental planning , disaster risk reduction , government (linguistics) , business , geography , local government , water resource management , engineering , environmental science , computer security , computer science , archaeology , linguistics , philosophy , geotechnical engineering
In November 1989 a major landslide destroyed the link road to the village of Sapni in Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Himalaya. Although aware of the risk of further landslide activity, the community has campaigned successfully for reconstruction of the road. Decisions of this kind take place at the local level, through village institutions and open debate, with good feedback between villages and district government authorities. In this way a balance is established between meeting more immediate needs (such as domestic water supply, irrigation, road access) and taking acceptable risks. Using the Sapni landslide as a case study, this paper explores the issue of ‘acceptable risk’, and looks at the existing strategy for risk and disaster reduction in the district.