Hill Slope Failure During The Development Of Infrastructure Projects In Himalaya: Case Study of Udhampur- Ramban National Highway, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Himalaya is youngest tectonic Active Mountain and northern boundary of India. Various infrastructure projects are under develop in Himalayan region for the better connectivity of peoples and national security of border line.  Widening of 295 km National Highway-44 in Jammu and Kashmir is an important developmental project. The highway passes through Outer Himalayan and Higher Himalayan sequences of rocks and is frequently affected by landslides at various places. The paper deals with 43 km Udhampur-Chenani and Nashri- Ramban section of the highway within sedimentary and metamorphic rock sequence. The area is prone to landslides on account of fragile geological, topographic and hydrological conditions. The study area has high rainfall intensity and numerous old landslides zones. During the project feasibility stage, project authority has identified the landslide prone area and suggested precautionary measures but during the construction work various unpredicted landslide and ground sinking events happened which given trouble in project construction cost and project completion time. In this paper, the challenges faced due to landslide and ground failure as failure of old slide adjutant to road construction, agriculture and residential ground failure at higher altitude due to road construction, collapse of high tension towers in cut slopes; its impact on construction activities; are discussed with  mitigation measures for unidentified landslide related challenges.