Jammu and Environment

Although Jammu city is situated in the arid region which is also called ‘Kandi Area’ but climate here in the evening and morning during summers has always been pleasant and most suitable for living barring the noon which were well known for their heat waves called ‘Looh’. However the evenings of Jammu in the summer season were famous for their cool breeze which provided a very pleasant atmosphere. Most of the people in Jammu about sixty years ago have no fans not to talk of ‘Coolers and AC’s’. They used to enjoy the natural cool breeze beginning from early evenings to late mornings. Majority of the people as such were habitual of sleeping not only on the rooftops but also in the streets, bazaars and in nearby open places. There was no fear of any theft or mischief and the social atmosphere was also very cordial, peaceful and pleasant. The people of Jammu were God fearing and law abiding. But now it is almost impossible to sleep either on the roof tops or in the streets or other open places. Theft and other mischief activities can never be ruled out. Secondly the climate has undergone significant change and it is now not possible to sleep without at least ‘Coolers’. During the last two decades the number of AC’ in Jammu city and surrounding areas have very sharply gone upwards and now approximately sixty percent houses have at least one AC. Though the reason behind this is attributed to global warming but what has caused global warming is very rarely told, discussed and explained. With every coming year we find several hills around Jammu are losing greenery as the trees are being cut and felled mercilessly in the name of development. The climate or to be specific, the temperature of Jammu city was controlled by the surrounding hills of “Bahu Rakkh, Mahamaaya forests, Majeehn Forests, Siddada Forests, Ramangar Forests, Nagrota forests, Bajaalta forests and also to a large extent by Nandini Forests. Most of these forests have been brutally cut and felled and most of the areas of these hills have been either flattened or denuded after cutting the trees. Though all this devastation has been made in the name of so-called development, no effort has been made to compensate for the loss of greenery caused by this selective development. We have to at least control this devastation if not stopped completely. Otherwise Jammu which has already lost its present temperature will very soon become a dry land and in the coming years Jammu will have to face the water crisis.