A review on sustainable reinforcing techniques to stabilize slopes against landslides

Landslides are a prevalent geohazard in many regions of India like the Western Ghats, Konkan and Himalayan belts causing immense damage to life, property and infrastructure in the affected regions. Risks associated with landslides increase every year due to frequent occurrences of extreme events like torrential rainfall, snowmelt, cloud bursts and flash floods demanding sustainable and environment friendly techniques/interventions to prevent and control landslides. Despite the availability of many techniques to improve the stability of slopes solutions that aim at sustainable development are not popular and lack thorough investigation. This study deliberates the choice of biotechnical stabilization of slopes by vegetating them with suitable endemic green cover that will help in not only improving the stability of the slopes against landslides but will also enrich the environment and prevent permanent modification of the soil environment. The option of vegetating the slopes can be a long-lasting solution with minimal maintenance as they mimic the natural system. Also, it is a way forward in preserving the endemic flora in the susceptible regions as landslides also lead to large scale environmental degradation. Many native species are capable of providing good stability to the slope through root cohesion leads to protecting the native species in the region. Vegetative cover also controls the hydrology of the slope which is a major triggering factor of landslides. This is also an economic option as it does not involve large scale investment in construction like retaining walls or dewatering systems.