Micro-zonation of pilgrimage routes required
*Experts caution against settlements in floodplains
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU Aug 17: The tragic cloudburst in Kishtwar has once again underlined the growing vulnerability of Jammu and Kashmir’s mountainous regions to extreme weather events because of climate change and raised several questions on disaster preparedness. While the calamity is being largely attributed to nature’s fury, questions are also being raised on whether adequate precautions were taken by the local administration to minimize risks to pilgrims and settlements in flood-prone areas.
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As per environmentalists, almost all the settlements in the valley system (a network of interconnected valleys usually carved by rivers, streams or glaciers) of Kishtwar are located at relatively higher elevations compared to other parts of Himalayas. Moreover, several habitations exist in the inner valleys where the probability of cloudburst incidents in higher than in other regions.
Highlighting that cloudbursts are increasingly being reported across the Himalayas due to climate change, they explained, “narrow valleys cannot accommodate the sudden surge of water during unprecedented rains. As a result, settlements located along the floodplains often bear the brunt, as witnessed recently in the Chashoti area of Paddar in Kishtwar district”.
Despite being aware of these risks, several temporary and semi-permanent structures had come up in the low-lying floodplain areas along the Shri Machail Mata Yatra route over the past several years. Moreover, the administration permitted the establishment of “langars” (community kitchens) on these floodplains, even though it is well known that such zones act as natural drainage channels during heavy downpours and that any encroachment there significantly increases the risk of damage during flash floods.
Disaster management experts said that at least community kitchens should not have been allowed on the floodplains by the local administration, especially in light of the cloudburst near Shri Amarnath cave shrine in July 2022, which had severely affected camps and other temporary structures set up in similar vulnerable zones. “Had lessons been learnt from that incident and corrective measures implemented, the losses at Chashoti could have been avoided to a large extent,” they added.
The incident has also raised concerns over the use of meteorological inputs. It remains unclear whether the administration was obtaining regular forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) during the pilgrimage. “If forecasts were available, questions arise as to why the yatra was not suspended during periods of adverse weather alerts. If not, this reflects a crucial gap in planning, given that over two lakh devotees visited the Machail Mata shrine last year”, they further said.
“Pilgrimage management cannot just be about crowd control-it must include scientific evaluation of terrain and weather,” they further said, adding “pilgrimages like Machail Mata attract lakhs of devotees every year and ensuring their safety requires coordination between meteorological inputs, scientific mapping and administrative regulation”.
They further said, “the cloudburst may have been unavoidable, but the scale of its impact can certainly be reduced with stronger planning, responsible settlement practices and early warning systems”.
When contacted to ascertain the preventive measures required to avoid such incidents in future, Dr Sunil Dhar, Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jammu, who is also member of the Focused Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Monitoring Committee for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “with climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, there is a dire need of micro-zonation of pilgrimage and habitation areas in such terrains”.
“Such detailed scientific mapping would help identify safe and unsafe zones for camps, langars and settlements. Micro-zonation is no longer optional-it is necessary to prevent future tragedies. It will allow the administration to balance faith with safety,” he further said, adding “such zonation involves detailed scientific mapping of terrain, flood channels and landslide-prone stretches”.
Despite repeated telephonic calls, there was no response from the Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar Pankaj Kumar Sharma while other officers refused to comment on the aspects pointed out by the disaster management experts and environmentalists.
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