‘Increased human intervention leading to spike in disasters’

There is an increase in deforestation, illegal mining and macadamisation in hilly areas FAROOQ AHMAD BHAT , Srinagar-based meteorologist

SRINAGAR: The cloudburst in Kishtwar on July 28 was so far from Jammu and Kashmir’s worst natural disaster this year though not the first one to strike. At least 11 adverse weather events such as cloudbursts and flash floods have struck Jammu and Kashmir this year, five of them in July alone.

As many as seven people died and 19 went missing after a cloudburst at Honzar village of Kishtwar district on July 28.

Srinagar-based meteorologist Farooq Ahmad Bhat said the frequency of adverse weather events is increasing in J&K.

“We often see cloudbursts and flash floods in summer, particularly after monsoon rains in July and August and in winter, we experience avalanches after snowfall,” he said.

“The frequencies of these have increased due to increased human interventions into nature. There is an increase in deforestation, illegal mining and macadamisation in hilly areas,” he said.

“Earlier after the cloudbursts in upper reaches, the flash floods would be less as the forests were thick, there would be more green areas and there was also less macadamisation and cutting of hilly areas,” he said.

Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, professor at the department of Earth Sciences and Head Geoinformatics, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, said that there was an increase in the reporting of adverse weather events such as cloudbursts and flash floods.

“The reporting of these events has increased but there is no record of observations of these events, except of extremes, in higher reaches in J&K, Ladakh and other Himalayan areas. These phenomena happen in upper areas mostly and we don’t have instrumentation and observatories there to record these events,” he said.

“But since communication has improved and internet has reached remote areas, the reporting of these events has increased,” he said.

He said cloudburst was an atmospheric phenomenon, but its impacts have increased over the years.

“There is a proliferation of construction and roads in otherwise remote areas. So, when a cloudburst hits, it causes a huge damage. Earlier, it was not so as people would not live there,” he said.

He said there was a need to not cut mountains indiscriminately for construction of roads. “We can’t implement the strategy of plains in the mountains,” he said. “Our frequency of landslides has increased not only in Kashmir but even in the northeast where road constructions have increased more so for military purposes. People’s activities and urbanisation have direct bearing on landslides,” he said.

He said there should be environment friendly infrastructure plans and also proper instrumentation was very necessary to record and observe the adverse weather events such as cloudbursts, landslides, flash floods, earthquakes.

“So that an early warning system could be developed, and the extent of damage can be reduced,” he said.