Each monsoon season, Mumbai's eastern hillsides collapse onto the homes of its poorest residents — not as a surprise, but as a confirmation. The city has mapped 287 landslide-prone sites, counted more than 340 dead since 1992, and received detailed scientific guidance on what must be done. What it has not built is the institutional will to act: between the warning and the rescue lies a bureaucratic void where authority is disputed, resources are absent, and the vulnerable remain in place while the paperwork accumulates.
Mumbai's Mapped Landslide Zones Remain Deadly as Agencies Clash Over Responsibility
More than 340 people killed in landslide incidents in mapped high-risk areas between 1992 and 2026; July 2021 alone saw 29 deaths in Vikhroli and Chembur.