Recurring disasters devastating state, Centre forms team to study reasons
The Central Government has ordered the setting up of a multi-sector team to study the reasons behind the recent cloudbursts and flashfloods in Himachal. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has ordered the formation of a multi-sector team comprising experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore, to look into these disasters in Himachal.
The state government should also take serious mitigation measures to offset the impact of climate change, which is becoming more and more visible with each passing year.
There has been a talk of roping in experts to study the reasons for the rising incidents of cloudburst and flashflood but little headway has been made so far. Even Lahaul and Spiti district, which receives little rainfall, is witnessing cloudbursts and flashfloods. On Tuesday, a cloudburst caused large-scale damage in Kaurik and Ranrgik villages of Kaza subdivision. Similarly, an incident of cloudburst was reported in the Leo nullah in the Hungrung valley of Kinnaur district on July 22. Not only these two tribal districts but also the entire state is witnessing a shift in agro-climatic zoning and an adverse impact on crops and fruits.
With almost a month and a half of the monsoon season still to go, the scenes from across the state present a distressing picture and at this pace, the trail of destruction can be far more serious by the time the rains recede. The state has already witnessed 24 cloudbursts, 42 flashfloods and 26 landslides since June 20 when the monsoon arrived in the state.
The increasing incidents of natural disaster, especially in the past three years, are an indication that serious thinking is required to counterbalance the visible impacts of climate change, manifesting itself in the form of cloudbursts, flashfloods and landslides. Besides the loss of human lives, the state’s economy suffers due to natural disasters as vital infrastructure like roads, bridges, water and electricity supply schemes get damaged and suffer losses of hundreds of crores of rupees.
It is after cloudbursts and flashfloods wreaked havoc in the Seraj, Nachan and Karsog areas of Mandi district that serious efforts are being made to study the reasons for the occurrence of these natural calamities, hitherto a rare phenomenon till some years ago. There had been incidents of massive landslide and cloudburst in the past too but those were isolated occurrences and not a regular phenomenon.
The issue of hydroelectric projects adversely impacting the ecology of the local area has been in focus for the past one decade and local people in many parts of the state are up in arms against what they call ‘projects of destruction’. The deforestation and denudation of vast tracts of forestland, be it for hydroelectric power generation, setting up of cement plants and road construction or road widening projects, has put a question mark on our development model.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has expressed concern over the increasing incidents of cloudburst and flashflood in recent years. He has said that there were 12 incidents of cloudburst in Mandi on the night of June 30, which was surprising and shocking.
Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur’s Assembly segment of Seraj in Mandi has suffered widespread destruction and losses to the tune of around Rs 1,000 crore. He feels that climate change can be one of the reasons for this large-scale devastation and there is need for experts to examine this disturbing trend.
Himachal Tribune