Mumbai's Mapped Landslide Zones Remain Deadly as Agencies Clash Over Responsibility

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.