H.B. Vasistha, Ashish Rawat and Prafulla Soni 37 Vol. 5 No. 1 & 2 April & November 2011 Disaster & Development Abstract Landslides are a common feature in the mountain ecosystem; these are accelerated either due to natural factors, such as lithology, structure, slopes, hydrological regime or anthropogenic factors, such as deforestation, road construction, mining, hydroelectric project, urbanisation, etc. Besides the disturbing natural fabric of ecosystem of the area, these landslides are also known to cause huge damage to the public and their property. Once these landslides occur, massive amounts of debris containing soil, small and big boulders get generated and deposited. If appropriate measures for protection of these loose materials are not taken, a continuous fear of damage to the ecosystem as well as to public property remains. Vegetation, which has capability to protect loose materials through spreading their root network and crown foliage, can be used to arrest further loss to the ecosystem and society in landslide damaged areas. Varunavat landslide in Uttarkashi district, which occurred in September 2003, is a recent example to the damage of ecosystem and public property. To check further damage due to erosion of loose materials and resulting loss to the property in Varunavat landslide area, application of bioengineering measures which included the use of number of suitable plant species has been practiced. The present paper discusses the importance of bioengineering measures and species used in arresting damage in Varunavat landslide. Key Words: Hazards, Landslide, Bioengineering, Varunavat, Uttarkashi Introduction Population growth, increasing urbanisation, indiscriminate uses of natural resources, mountain and coastal development are magnifying the risk of various kinds of disasters in all over the globe but these catastrophes are more frequent in the entire Indian Hazards Mitigation through Application of Bioengineering Measures in Landslide Areas – A Case Study of Varunavat Landslide, Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) H.B. Vasistha, Ashish Rawat and Prafulla Soni