The ongoing downpour, and natural prettiness increases the risk of landslides and avalanches, which pose several risks and destroy the lives and livelihood of those who live in its valley.
With ever changing climate and climate-change-related natural hazards, it is really a prerequisite to think of creating safe zones and developing robust mitigative measures to protect the people living in Kashmir.
Some pockets of Kashmir are highly vulnerable to landslides and avalanches: steep topography, heavy rainfall, and seismic activity often destabilize the mountainous terrain, and heavy snowfall doubles the risk of avalanche in the winter.
Last year, natural disasters of every type have become more frequent and more severe, as has been the case as a result of the effects of climate change. The calamitous avalanches in 2017 in Gurez and heavy landslides on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway highlight the urgency of this identification.
It means people can save their lives by finding and establishing safe ground and safe areas for them to seek refuge during emergencies, which should be far from any steep slopes that are prone to avalanche, landslides, and floodplains.
Really there is a dire need for detailed geological studies to explore stable ground and areas with lesser possibility of sliding down the mountain and avalanche. It would engage the ever-changing opinion directly by involving local communities in the identification of safe zones.
Such safe areas should also be reachable throughout any weather because sometimes when roads are blocked, chances of remaining trapped are also very real. It should say that such safe areas have roads and evacuation routes coming to them.
However, besides safe areas, the all-encompassing strategy toward disaster risk reduction must especially consist of preventive measures.
Planting trees and herbage on the slopes can be an effective way to mitigate soil erosion and provide stability to the ground, thus minimizing the risk of a possible disaster such as landslides.
What’s more, the use of modern surveillance devices such as meteorological radar and seismic monitoring instruments in this case may lower the risk of landslides, providing an early warning in case of such disasters.
Meeting the challenges associated with land degradation, from landslides and avalanches to the preservation of ecosystems requires to work together – together with the governing bodies and the corresponding civil structures.
Management of such natural calamities would also call for budget allocation by the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory administration to preparedness need as well as working in construction projects that help reduce vulnerability. There is also a need for the society to be actively involved in disaster management issues and people must comply with the safety rules in place.
