Landslide Susceptibility Mapping along Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Western Ghats, Maharashtra Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Mass movements are very common in the Western Ghats during and after the monsoon. The intensity of these movements is controlled by the degree of weathering of the rocks and rock joints, the amount of loose materials on the slope and altered/unaltered slope geometry. The rocks of Western Ghats are mainly Deccan Basalts of the Cretaceous Age which are weathered and jointed. The present studies are focused along Mumbai- Pune Expressway. It is the India?s first expressway, which has six high-speed lanes and has a very heavy traffic load that crosses the hilly region of Deccan Basaltic terrain. The studied mass movements are located between Bhatan Tunnel (18.9141N, 73.17861E) and to Kamshet Tunnel (18.7294N, 73.5400E). This covers a linear distance of about 83 kilometers, in which ten spots have been identified. In every monsoon season, the expressway is suffered mainly by rockfall and subsidence problems which are being studied and mitigation for minimizing the loss of human life and property will be suggested after detailed field investigations. In general, the adverse geological, geomorphological, hydrological and engineering geological conditions might have caused the slope movements in the study area. An attempt is being made to investigate these problems observed along the expressway, that will incorporate a Digital elevation map, rainfall map, slope map, aspect map, landuse/landcover map, lineament (structure) map and drainage map which is prepared using ALOS PALSAR DEM on Arc GIS 10.5 software. The outcome of the present studies may be useful for controlling slope failure problems with similar conditions existing in other areas of India.