A Preliminary Study of Rainfall-Induced Mass-Wasting Events in the Deccan Trap Terranes of Satara District, Maharashtra, India
Abstract
This paper presents a comparative geological, geomorphological, and engineering analysis of three recent rainfall-induced slope failures within the Western Ghats escarpment (Morpho-Zone Aa) of Satara District, Maharashtra, India. The studied locations include the villages of Kurulbaji (Satara Taluka), Mhate Mura (Jawali Taluka), and Sayghar (Jawali Taluka). Utilizing real-time field mapping data, structural configurations, spatial metrics, and hydro-geological observations compiled between 2025 and 2026, we characterize the failure kinematics ranging from shallow fluidic debris flows to deep-seated historical creep and anthropogenic slope instabilities. The underlying lithology across all domains consists uniform Deccan Trap basaltic lava flows capped by un-engineered, highly porous overburden of variable thickness. Our findings indicate that extreme, short-duration monsoonal precipitation acts as the primary dynamic trigger by rapidly elevating internal pore-water pressures, inducing piping action, and reducing effective shear strength along the critical soil-rock interface. The paper categorizes the vulnerabilities into structural engineering typologies, evaluates the down-gradient risk profiles to settlements, public infrastructure, and agricultural lands, and provides actionable mitigation frameworks alongside an escalation protocol for advanced geophysical modeling by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). Keywords: GSDA, Groundwater, Landslide, western Ghat, Mhate Mura, Kurulbaji, Sayghar