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| `It has never happened before’ Kashmir’s tryst with the storm | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 20: It was a nightmare. Scared Srinagar stayed awake all night seeking pardon for their sins as ferocious whistling winds blew away rooftops and uprooted trees. Nobody was in a position to help anybody. The call for prayers in wee hours brought some respite though for a brief while.
“This has never happened before”, said 88 year-old Ali Muhammad of Lachmanpora , Batmaloo. “I have never witnessed such a storm”, he said.
Mukhta Bhat who lives in Khankah area of old Srinagar recalled her childhood. “I was a student of fifth standard in Mallinson School. My mother witnessed something falling from the sky. She lifted the bottom of her Phiran (a sort of gown that Kashmiris use in winter). In a jiffy it was filled with red soil”, she said.
Mukhta said other women in the neighborhood also collected the red material. Mukhta does not remember the year when it happened. “I think it happened in mid 30s”, she said.
Kashmir is prone to natural disasters. However, never has a calamity hit the entire valley at a time. In 2006 Waltengo Nar in South Kashmir witnessed massive devastation as a snow tsunami hit the hamlet. Hundreds of houses were damaged. Scores of precious lives were also lost. But the tsunami remained confined to the hamlet.
The earthquake of 2005 wreaked havoc in North Kashmir. However, it had no or little impact in other parts of Kashmir.
“When black snow falls, Kashmir will get freedom.” Thus goes the adage. In 1990 when late Saddam Husain torched oil wells in Kuwait, some parts of Kashmir witnessed black snow. As environmental experts expressed deep concern over the development, people cracked jokes. “Now black snow has fallen. We will get freedom.” Interestingly this was the time when militancy had gained momentum. However, this wishful thinking was short lived and so was the concern of the environmentalists. The black snow did not affect Valley’s agriculture.
Muhammad Yusuf who celebrated his 80th birthday in January believes that the entire Valley came under the grip of a calamity for the first time during his life time. |
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