Historic Hill Station Faces Ground Crisis as Market Area Sinks Alarmingly
The popular hill destination of Mussoorie is confronting a serious land subsidence crisis in its historic Landour market area, where the ground has sunk by nearly one foot in recent months. The dangerous situation has created deep cracks across roads and buildings, putting approximately 500 residents and visitors at risk and raising urgent safety concerns.
Roads Split Open as Subsidence Accelerates
The busy commercial stretch between Jain Mandir and the former Kohinoor Building has experienced dramatic sinking, with the road surface dropping by almost twelve inches according to local estimates. Deep fissures now cut across the roadway and extend into adjacent structures, creating hazardous conditions for both pedestrians and vehicles.
Shopkeeper Pradeep Gunsola revealed that "the entire stretch had begun to sink two years ago, but in the past few months the pace has increased rapidly. By my estimate, the area has sunk by almost one foot."
Another local businessman, Dharam Singh Thapli, confirmed the worsening situation, stating that "the deepening cracks have made the road risky for motorists, leading to multiple accidents and structural damage to homes." Shopkeepers report that the deteriorating conditions have already caused several motorcycle accidents and damaged multiple nearby houses.
Expert Investigations and Institutional Response
The subsidence problem was first officially recorded in early January 2023, when a 50-meter segment of the Landour market road between Hotel Nishima and the Kohinoor Building began sinking. Initial warnings from residents about developing fissures in buildings prompted authorities to take action.
In response, an eight-member multi-institutional team comprising experts from USDMA, IIT Roorkee, the Geological Survey of India, and the Central Building Research Institute conducted a site inspection. The team initially described the issue as "localized, affecting only 10-15m of the stretch," but noted that "the root causes, including possible drainage failures, required detailed investigation."
Meera Saklani, Chairperson of Mussoorie municipal council, provided an update: "An IIT Roorkee team visited the subsidence site a few months ago. They have submitted their report to the district magistrate, and I will be meeting the DM soon to decide the next steps."
National Green Tribunal Intervention and Historical Vulnerability
The National Green Tribunal later took suo motu cognizance of the crisis, drawing parallels with the Joshimath subsidence disaster. The tribunal warned that "unchecked construction, mounting traffic pressure and ecological stress were pushing Mussoorie beyond its carrying capacity."
The NGT constituted a nine-member expert panel headed by the chief secretary, with representatives from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology, National Institute of Rock Mechanics, and the Central Pollution Control Board. This committee was tasked with recommending preventive and remedial measures based on hydro-geological and geomorphological assessments.
Among the NGT's significant recommendations was regulating tourist inflow by registering visitors according to the hill station's carrying capacity and levying a visitation fee to fund waste and sanitation management. The tribunal has set January 28 next year as the next hearing date and directed the state government to submit a comprehensive, time-bound action plan.
The current crisis unfolds in an area with known vulnerability. Landour market, established nearly 200 years ago to serve British troops visiting for rest and recuperation, sits in one of Mussoorie's "most fragile zones." A 2013 landslide-hazard zonation study by the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre in Dehradun classified parts of the area as "very high hazard" and others as "high hazard," underscoring the long-standing geological risks now manifesting dramatically on the ground.
