Mumbai: BMC plans to approach Geological Survey of India (GSI) to conduct a detailed survey of Mumbai’s nearly 249 identified landslide-prone locations. The last such comprehensive survey was conducted in 2017, said civic officials.A draft has already been readied and will be sent shortly to GSI, said an official.BMC said there is a need to reassess the soil morphology and the geological stability of these 249 locations, particularly to determine whether rocks or soil have loosened further since the last assessment. “The exercise will also focus on areas from where residents have been relocated and assess their current vulnerability,“ said an official.The civic body will ask GSI to classify the locations based on their current risk—whether they remain highly vulnerable, have become less vulnerable, or no longer require urgent attention.Recently, 32 of the most vulnerable locations were surveyed and a report on their geological status was prepared.Mumbai has seen 95 landslides in the past six years, resulting in 38 deaths and 28 injuries, shows civic data. The highest number of fatalities in a year in that period—29—was recorded in 2021, accounting for over 90% of the total deaths. All 29 deaths were from a single night on July 18, 2021, during incessant rain—10 after illegal slums in Surya Nagar atop Vikrohli’s LBS Road crashed and 19 after a retaining wall fell on some houses in Chembur’s Mahul.
