The death toll in the flash flood following a sudden cloudburst in Kishtawar, Jammu & Kashmir has reached 60, with fears of more casualties. 167 persons have been rescued and over 100 people are injured. Over 250 people are reported missing even after 24 hours have passed. Rescue work has hit a hurdle due to incessant rains.
There were nearly 1,000 pilgrims present for the Machail Mata annual yatra, when nature struck. Chasoti village, located 90 km from Kishtwar, was the base camp from where the pilgrims took the hilly route to reach the temple. Houses, shops, vehicles were destroyed as torrents of flood water alongwith mudslides and debris struck the village destroying everything that fell on the route.
NDRF, SDRF, state police and army personnel are trying to trace the missing persons and ferry the injured pilgrims to care centres. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah and Lt. Gov Manoj Sinha and assured all possible help.
In Lahaul Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, huge boulders and muddy rocks fell with gushing flood water after a sudden cloudburst. In Rampur near Shimla, flash flood after cloudburst caused widespread damage in Nanti gaon, Ganvi gaon and Kasha Path.
The number of cloudburst incidents in J&K, Himachal and Uttarakhand has doubled in the last two months compared to the figures of last five years. This has caused serious concern. The government has set up a panel of five scientists to find out the reasons behind frequent cloudbursts.
Frequent cloudbursts followed by flash flood are a clear sign of warning from Mother Nature. The main reasons : Unregulated constructions blocking the path of rivers and deforestation. Already, we have lost a large number of people due to cloudbursts in Uttarakhand, HP and Jammu and Kashmir. If we fail to take prompt action despite watching the frightening visuals of the fury of flash flood water, then similar tragedies may again take place. If we do not learn a lesson from such tragedies, the fury of nature will increase.
Remove all weak trees from Delhi pavements
A 50-year-old man Sudhir Kumar died and his 22-year-old daughter Priya was critically injured when a neem tree on the roadside suddenly fell on their motorbike near Paras Chowk in Delhi’s Kalkaji locality on Thursday. Sudhir was ferrying his daughter to her office in Amar Colony when this tragedy occurred.
The uprooted tree had to be cut and the two were extricated and shifted to Safdarjang hospital, where Sudhir Kumar was declared dead. Priya suffered a fracture in her pelvic region. Nearly 250 pedestrians tried to remove the uprooted tree but failed. All this happened when Delhi witnessed a continuous downpour since morning.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta has asked officers to carry out a survey of all old trees that have become weak and fall anytime. The neem tree that fell on Sudhir Kumar and his daughter was on the verge of being uprooted.
There are hundreds of trees on the roadside across Delhi which have become weak and can fall anytime. Most of the roots of these trees have become hollow because concrete constructions have been made around them for providing space for pavements. In several places, old trees have become weak due to cabling.
Under Section 8 of Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, no tree can be removed from any land without prior permission from the ‘Tree Officer’, even on privately owned property. The Tree Officer may grant permission after inspecting the tree and he is supposed to respond within 60 days. Municipal authorities avoid cutting trees because of this law, but there is a provision in that law for emergency cases. The Delhi Chief Minister has used this emergency provision to instruct officers to carry out survey of all weak trees and remove them to avoid such tragedies.
The CM has done the right thing, but the question is: Shouldn’t authorities have taken this step long back? Why didn’t authorities use this emergency provision? What action will be taken against those officers who are responsible for this death, due to sheer negligence?