Location: Balia Nala is located at Nainital’s entry. Water released from the Nainital lake, as discharge to maintain the level of the lake, flows through Balia Nala.
Issue: Balia Nala is a Nainital landslide zone. While landslides in the area have continued for decades, they have now become particularly hazardous as the sliding zone has reached a fairly populated area called Hari Nagar.
During the monsoon season, the local administration shifts the Hari Nagar residents to safer buildings. However, that’s only a temporary measure. No mitigation measures are being undertaken by the administration to address the expanding sliding zone. The Balia Nala Sangharsh Samiti was formed around seven years ago to demand essential measures to stop the slides, but not much could be achieved. Currently Hari Nagar has about 100 houses, and they’re all sitting on a time bomb.
The issue is not just of Hari Nagar, or other areas in the sliding zone’s vicinity. Balia Nala area also acts as a foundation for Nainital. A collapsing foundation means that the town itself is in danger.
The photo below shows the Balia Nala slide along the Hari Nagar area.
Below is a current Google Earth image of the Balia Nala slide zone (see the area circled in red).
Below is a Google Earth image from 2011. That the Balia Nala slide zone has expanded immensely is clear from the Google Earth images from 2011 and 2022.
