Learn lessons from nature’s fury!

Living in an eco-fragile area, we have witnessed how dangerous natural disasters can be! Mountainous Jammu and Kashmir is prone to natural disasters particularly floods, landslides, earthquakes. Due to climate change, J&K has been witnessing frequent cloudbursts in the last over a decade.

We saw how a series of cloudbursts triggered flash floods recently spelt doom in the mountainous Chisoti area of Kishtwar area of Jammu’s division recently. Over 65 people, mostly devotees, were washed away in sudden flash floods and many are still missing. 7 persons lost their lives in subsequent flash floods in Kathua district.

What’s concerning is that be it the government or people, no one learns from natural disasters! We have short memories. We didn’t learn any lessons from devastating floods on September 7, 2014 that ravaged Srinagar. Authorities have been closing eyes to wanton burying of Kashmir’s flood plains and wetlands which acted as reservoirs for flood waters.

We wake up only when natural disasters strike us. It will be apt to call natural disasters man-made disasters. We leave no stone unturned to vandalise our natural resources be it glaciers, mountains, forests, lakes, springs or wetlands! In the name of so-called development, we devastated natural resources! There is not even a concept of sustainable development in J&K. There is no rule of law on the ground to prevent constructions in orchards, lakes, forests and even wetlands!

In the aftermath of Kishtwar and Kathua cloudbursts, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has rightly directed for forming a team of experts to identify all vulnerable places across Jammu & Kashmir and also suggest measures to prevent loss of lives in future. CM has also called upon religious heads to take a call to regulate smaller pilgrimages in mountainous areas.

Citing the changing weather pattern, Omar said there is need for regulation of pilgrimages in J&K. The indicators of climate change were long visible in J&K. During 2014 floods, Omar as CM saw the large-scale devastation caused by floods following incessant rains, flash floods triggered by series of cloudbursts in south Kashmir.

The question is why J&K is lagging behind in disaster preparedness. Why have we failed to strengthen disaster management? It is to be noted that people of J&K knock on the doors of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) to save wetlands, water bodies and forests.

In its recent order, Supreme Court of India upheld the order of National Green Tribunal -NGT wherein a private company was barred from carrying out riverbed mining work in Shali Ganga stream in Panzan area of Budgam district in Kashmir. A noted environmental activist Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat moved from pillar to post in J&K to stop use of heavy machinery by a private company to excavate boulders and river bed material. After no headway he approached NGT in 2022 which banned the mining work in the river. The company challenged the order in the Supreme Court which upheld the NGT order to ban the mining.

What is to be noted is that the Supreme Court came heavily on J&K State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority and J&K Expert Appraisal Committee-EAC for not adhering to the guidelines while granting Environmental Clearance. The Apex Court noted that JK EIAA compromised with regulatory integrity by granting the environment clearances (EC) on the basis of a DSR without a replenishment report.

Besides water bodies, J&K’s forests too are facing ecological threats due to haphazard constructions and encroachments. Government is taking no action to retrieve encroached forest land. It is shocking that out of total 20194 sq. kms of forest land in J&K, 19547.27 hectares has been encroached upon. This has been revealed by RTI reply by the J&K Forest Department to noted environmentalist MM Shuja who terms it as wanton loot of forests.

We are fast losing Karewas due to unabated excavation of clay in various areas of Kashmir especially central Kashmir’s Budgam district. This is taking a heavy toll on the valley’s fragile eco-system. Karewas were formed due to tectonic events, which occurred at different intervals during the uplift of the Pir Panjal Range due to Himalayan orogeny. In absence of regulation by the government, unscrupulous persons and even construction agencies are having a free hand to destroy Karewas by wantonly excavating clay.

Rising temperature led to rapid melting of glaciers. This led to creation of glacial lakes in various places of Kashmir upper reaches. The Geological Survey of India has identified over 540 glacial lakes spread in an area of 2550.79 hectares in J&K while Ladakh has around 3200 glacial lakes spanning 9965.34 hectares.

J&K has the highest combined exposure to potential glacial lake outburst flood with 556 lakes that include very high and high danger lakes. GLOF can be disastrous for downstream populations due to sudden outburst of a glacial lake dammed by loose moraine material. The glacial lake outbursts can be catastrophic with risk of destroying downstream infrastructure, resulting in fatalities and affecting livelihoods of mountain communities. Threat of GLOF outbursts is looming large over Kashmir and we must take preemptive measures to prevent the catastrophe.

The need of the hour is to prevent further damage to J & K’s fragile environment. This will minimise changes of natural disasters. Besides, we have to be ready for any eventuality due to the risk of natural disasters. We need to strengthen the disaster prevention mechanism rather than disaster management! Government must strike a balance between development and the environment. There is no other option as our survival is at stake!

Author is Executive Editor,

Greater Kashmir