A garage and a car belonging to St. Cosme and St. Damian church were reportedly damaged in a landslide triggered by heavy rains at Bogmalo recently. Mud accompanied by a large boulder came rolling down from the hill. Providentially there were no casualties. It is learnt that locals have been asked to avoid going near the accident area due to possibilities of further landslides. The Ponda-Belagavi highway stretch at Keriya-Khandepar reportedly witnessed a landslide with boulders and mud sliding down. It is learnt that a landslide had occurred at the same stretch of the National Highway in June 2018 thereby blocking the road for nearly eight days. In Goa there are several hilly areas which are prone to mudslides. In the past such landslides occurred at the Sada slope and New Vaddem slope in Vasco. Mudslides develop when water rapidly accumulates in the ground and results in a surge of water-saturated rock, earth, and debris. Human interference is one of the major causes of landslides. Deforestation, hill-cutting, mining and quarrying and construction activities are man-made causes for landslides. A landslide occurs when the natural slope of a mountain is disturbed. If unstable slopes cannot be avoided, there are numerous engineering solutions to deter landslides which include improving the drainage system, reducing the angle of the slope, building a retaining wall, as also, avoiding mining and quarrying near steep slopes. Planting more trees can prevent landslides as roots of the trees hold the soil.
