The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The Weather Panic!

(The
anticipated western disturbance has set a wave of panic among people because of
the recent system failure caused by just few inches of snow!)

Over
last few days a weather warning has been issued by the Metrological Department.
A strong western disturbance is expected to reach J&K around 24th
January. Probably, there may be more than one disturbance back to back. The
weather warning has created panic among the people and apprehensions of a
system failure are strong. This is so because of the recent debacle caused by
hardly half a foot of snow. The warning says there may be very heavy snowfall
and there is possibility of avalanches in higherreaches. The satellite
pictures did show a series of western disturbances approaching Kashmir. Our
weather in winter is dependent on these western disturbances. It is only
recently that the people have got weather conscious. Thanks to Mr. Sonam Lotus,
the head of the Metrology Department in Kashmir, even common man is acquainted
with the weather forecasts. He has become a household name. His forecast
preceding the 2014 devastating flood was most accurate but unfortunately, the
government at that time virtually slept over it. The best they could do was to
throw bananas from the state helicopter to the marooned people!

In
earlier times, the weather was a for granted thing. There was a set pattern.
Kashmir used to have four clear seasons unlike other places in the
sub-continent. Spring, summer, autumn and winter had very distinct succession.
This was before the