THE JAMMU MONSOONS CREATING HAVOC

CHAITANYA SAMBYAL ||
Monsoon brings with it a refreshing change from the scorching heat of the summers and most of the people love rainy days. Sitting on the rooftops or in your balcony with a cup of tea in your hand, along with the yummy pakodas made by your mother is all you need to enjoy a beautiful rainy day. But what if a beautiful rainy day turns into a disaster for someone? Where nature has its beauty, it also has its consequences. This rainy season, Jammu is witnessing chaos in several areas. There are damages caused to the buildings or vehicles. These incidents can also cause harm to human lives. It seems as if the letter “R” in Rain has been replaced by the letter “P” and all we have is Pain. The heavy rain showers are causing pain and suffering to the common residents of Jammu city. No doubt, the monsoon season has given us relief from the harsh summer days, but it has also come bundled up with a lot of troubles for the people.
If we look into the recent rain incidents, a building got sinked into the ground along with several cars in Circular Road area. There were several areas flooded due to the rain waters. The streets, shops and homes were flooded with sewage water in Narwal. Water entered in many houses and shops in areas in Kunjwani, Pamposh colony, Chatha and Nanak Nagar. The drains and nallahs were seen overflowing due to the flood water. The gushing water of a nallah washed away a bridge at Dharap near Jeevan Nagar. The bridge that collapsed was an important link between Dharap and Bishnah Tehsil of Jammu district. This bridge was just built five years ago. It created connectivity issues for the people there.
There were reportedly many incidents of shooting stones and landslides on the National Highways due to which the roads remained closed causing huge lines of vehicular traffic. One such landslide incident took the lives of four people in Reasi who had gone to the higher slopes in Reasi to graze cattle. Not only humans but animals also lose their lives in such incidents. Manier times, the heavy rainfalls cause rising concerns for the people who reside nearby river Tawi as these rain lashes bring about a rise in the water level of Tawi. The rise in water level may pose a threat to the people residing there.  Several kutcha houses (mud huts) were washed away on the outskirts of Jammu as the water level in the Tawi river had risen. These rains also cause water logging in areas and water logging further damages property. There have also been incidents of the electric poles falling off due to the rains. The falling of the electric poles can be hazardous to the people living there or passing through the area.
On Wednesday, A portion of a bridge in Jammu’s Gadigarh area collapsed after the extremely heavy rainfall. The bridge is located on a stream and due to the rise in the water level, a large portion of the bridge collapsed in the morning. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been engulfed by heavy rains in the last few days. Landslides, flash floods and waterlogging have thrown life out of gear.  Jammu and Kashmir is expected to receive widespread rainfall over the next few days after an extended dry spell since May that led to a surge in day temperatures in the Valley, as said by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Moderate rain and thunderstorms were reported from Jammu, the Himalayan Pir Panjal Range region from Bhaderwah to Poonch. Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 245.1 mm of rain from June to August. This is around 42% lesser compared to the same time last year.
Not only Jammu and Kashmir, but India’s largest coastal cities, like Mumbai and Kolkata, are also facing the severest threats from climate-induced flooding. There have been floods in Bihar where lakhs of people were affected by the calamity in almost 16 districts. The Coastal and interior parts of Karnataka had received heavy rains causing floods and landslides. At this point of time we are not just battling with the global pandemic but also the disasters that are creating havoc all over the country.