Environment · 4 Aug 2026

Gadgil Kasturirangan Committee Western Ghats

With reference to landslide risk in Kerala's Western Ghats districts, consider the following statements:

  1. The Madhav Gadgil Committee submitted its report in 2011 and the Kasturirangan Committee subsequently proposed a narrower set of Ecologically Sensitive Areas in
  2. 2. As per ISRO's Landslide Atlas of India, the Western Ghats region records a higher total number of landslide events than the Himalayan region, though Kerala's fatality share is lower.
  3. Conditioning factors for landslides, such as steep slopes and loose soil over hard bedrock, are geologically fixed, whereas triggering factors like rainfall intensity and human slope disturbance can vary.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A1 only
B1 and 3 only
C2 and 3 only
D1, 2 and 3

Tests the ability to hold two related but distinct statistics (event frequency vs fatality concentration) apart and catch a reversed data claim, rather than simple recall of a single fact.

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This question is based on: Kerala Knew Which Slopes Would Fail - It Regulated Them Anyway
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About this question

Why in news

Fresh landslides in Kerala on August 2 killed at least six people, two years after the Wayanad landslides, in districts the Gadgil and Kasturirangan committees had flagged as ecologically fragile over a decade ago.

Why for UPSC

This tests the analytical distinction between event frequency and fatality concentration - a data-reversal trap that requires precise recall of the article's comparative statistic, not just general awareness of landslide risk.

Prelims summary

Gadgil Committee (2011) and Kasturirangan Committee (2013) flagged Western Ghats ESAs; the Himalayas record more landslide events than the Western Ghats, but Kerala has a disproportionately high share of landslide fatalities; conditioning factors (slope, soil) are fixed while triggering factors (rainfall, human activity) vary.

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