The Convergence of Record Rainfall, Anthropogenic Destabilization, and Overlooked Geomorphological History: A Systematic Review of the 2022 Tupul Landslide

Abstract

The landslide at Tupul, Manipur (June 29-30, 2022) is one of the most catastrophic geo-disasters in Northeast India, causing 54 to 61 casualties and extensive damage to the Jiribam-Imphal railway project. Four main academic contributions from this systematic review were synthesized to identify the various drivers of the slope failure. Recent studies have pointed to the extreme meteorological triggers (June rainfall was 130% greater than the decadal average), in addition to the destabilizing effects of human "yard-cutting" for the Tupul railway station platform[1], [2].
This review adds a key and often ignored factor from recent field observations: a massive historic landslide scarp has been identified by high-resolution satellite imagery and field investigations 350 meters uphill from the project site and is approximately 1100 meters long and 300 meters deep, showing that the slope was inherently unstable and had fractured and weakened soil masses long before construction began, and that the railway engineering removing the "toe" of the slope and saturating these weakened masses during the monsoon resulted in reactivation of a pre-existing geohazard.
This review compares different methodologies, including geospatial remote sensing, finite element analysis, and regional susceptibility mapping, and highlights a critical gap in standard geotechnical survey protocols that did not adequately account for the surrounding geomorphology, arguing for a new paradigm in Himalayan infrastructure planning that mandates 1km-radius geohazard assessments, includes historical academic hazard warnings, and incorporates real-time monitoring systems. In the end, the Tupul event becomes a case study in the outcomes of "slope-unfriendly" development in geologically susceptible mountainous landscapes [1], [3].