The images from Jammu and Kashmir this week were movingly worrisome. Mud-choked streets, damaged homes, uprooted trees and residents watching helplessly as torrents of water carrying rocks and debris tore through mountain settlements. In Kishtwar’s Chatroo area, a cloudburst sent flash floods crashing through the valley. Days later, more cloudbursts struck parts of the Kashmir Valley, damaging roads, farmland, orchards and public infrastructure while forcing few families to move to safer places.

For many, these appeared to be yet another set of isolated mountain disasters. But viewed against the backdrop of the entire Himalayan region, they tell a different story. From the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal and the eastern Himalayas, cloudbursts and flash floods are becoming an increasingly common feature of the monsoon.

The Himalayas have always experienced extreme weather. What appears to be changing is the frequency, intensity and unpredictability of these events. Scientists say the region is witnessing longer dry spells punctuated by short periods of exceptionally intense rainfall. Instead of rain falling steadily over several days, vast quantities of water are now being dumped within a few hours over a very small area. When that happens in steep mountain terrain, rivers turn into raging torrents within minutes. The warning signs have appeared across the length of the mountain chain during this year’s monsoon.In June, a cloudburst in the Gurez Valley of north Kashmir damaged bridges, roads and agricultural land. In early August, Kishtwar witnessed another destructive cloudburst that inundated markets and disrupted road links. Within days, flash floods struck parts of Kupwara, Bandipora and Ganderbal, underlining how quickly weather systems can shift from one valley to another.

Further east, Ladakh’s Kargil district also experienced flash floods after intense........

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