Slope Stability Assessment of Saptashrungi Gad Temple, Vani, Nashik, Maharashtra, India—A Numerical Approach

The worship places in India are usually situated in and around the hilly regions and/or mountainous area and a number of devotees used to visit the holy places in every area for worship. The stability slopes upon which these worship places are located in the hilly and mountainous region are always a major concern. Moreover, heavy precipitation, weathering conditions, seismic disturbances and human activities could cause problem to the stability of such slopes. The effect of slope instability could cause delay in traffic, loss of life of the devotees at pilgrim sites and the loss of the properties. The Saptashrungi gad temple (SGT) situated on basaltic hills belongs to Deccan volcanic and is one among the 51 Shakti Peeths and the most holy place for pilgrims. In this research, the slope stability analysis at SGT hill is assessed using Phase 2, a finite element program along the two parikrama paths: Parikrama Path 1 (or the Badi Parikrama Path “BPP”), and Parikrama Path 2 (or the Chhoti Parikrama Path “CPP”). On the basis of extensive field work, topographic survey, complex geology, orientations of joint sets, hill slope faces and geotechnical conditions, the study area has been divided into eight zones (Zone#01 to Zone#08), and eighteen topographic profiles (AA′ to RR′) are taken from these eight zones for detailed slope stability analysis. The analysis helps to identify the potentially vulnerable slope and zone of instability.