A massive cloudburst led to flash floods in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Thursday while some still remain missing. Disaster struck Chositi, the last motorable village on the way to Machail Mata temple, between 12 noon and 1 pm. A large number of people had gathered there for the annual Machail Mata yatra that began on July 25 and is scheduled to end on September 5. The 8.5 kilometre trek to the 9,500-feet shrine begins from Chositi which is about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town. A ‘langar’ (community kitchen) packed with devotees bore the brunt of the cloudburst, which led to flash floods and washed away several structures, including shops and a security outpost.
While the government agencies are doing everything possible to rescue those who are trapped and have already rescued scores of people, this tragic incident indicates the fragility of Himalayan slopes and neglect, both by the governments, that be, and the public towards the environment and ecology. Frequent mudslides, change in weather patterns are indicative of one thing that something wring is happening to the environment in Jammu and Kashmir. Human encroachment in geographically fragile areas is resulting into such kind of disasters. Rise in population has resulted into human expansion in several areas in the region which again has resulted into blockade of springs and streams which otherwise are natural discharge channels of Himalayas.
In one of its recent reports regarding Himalayas in Chenab Valley, citing several incidents of mudslides and land sinking, an independent research group, JK Policy Institute (JKPI) has observed that in the Himalayan arc, land subsidence may occur due to the reawakening of a geographic fault where the Indian Plate has slid underneath the Eurasian Plate, all along the Himalayas, in the form of slow sinking known as the ‘creep moment’. Doda had seen a few minor earthquakes along with the neighboring Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. This may have triggered a shift in the fault line resulting in the development of deep cracks in the area.
The authorities need to ponder on these issues and devise some mechanism to minimize human intervention and interference with geographically fragile areas. Such attention should not be confined to Himalayan arc but the entire Jammu and Kashmir. In countryside, Kashmir Valley had abundant fresh water streams and rivers. Till late 80’s, people used to drink directly from these streams. Today, in some areas the streams have completely vanished and the ones that exist have turned into stinking drains. People dump all garbage particularly plastic waste into these streams and rivers. In 2008, J&K government banned polythene bags under the J&K Non-Biodegradable Material (Management, Handling and Disposal) Act, 2007. The ban remains confined to the papers only as no concrete steps were ever taken to enforcement the same. Fresh water streams have vanished and rivers (nallas) are constantly shrinking.
See the condition of forests surrounding famed tourist resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg or for that matter the deteriorating condition of Thajwas glacier in Sonamarg. All the garbage in Gulmarg and Pahalgam is dumped in the jungle and as a result, the trees are rotting and drying up. In Sonamarg, unchecked vehicular traffic to Thajwas glacier has impacted its health terribly. To save the environment from further damage, the government, that be, and the public have to join heads and hands.