Is Jammu becoming hotter with every coming year in comparison to the previous year? The answer is definitely yes, though the rise in temperature may be slow but it is rising gradually every year. This year the temperature in the month of March touched 37.3 degrees Celsius which was very unusual. Everyone was surprised and according to the Meteorological department in the last77 years this was the highest ever temperature recorded in the month of March in Jammu. The previous record of hottest day in March is 31st March 1945 with mercury touching 37.2 degrees Celsius. That unexpected rise in the temperature was according to some analysts perhaps because WW-II. But now the rise in the temperature of Jammu has become a permanent feature with continuous rise in the level of mercury, may it be very marginal in measurement but is very big with regard to the change in the climate. Even an annual rise of 0.1 degrees Celsius in the temperature is sufficient to change the whole climatic conditions and affect the ecology of a region. What is the reason behind this minor but continuous rise in the temperature? There are several reasons which could be held responsible for this but among all those reasons, felling of trees, denuding forests, allotting forest and agricultural lands for commercial use and massive urbanization with no place or priority for the trees. In Jammu during the last couple of years countless trees have been cut in the name of ‘Development’ and this process is still on. More surprising, painful and thoughtless is the selection of places for so-called development, as mostly green lands are being sacrificed for this irresponsible act of the government and concerned agencies. For almost every project forest and now far the last couple of years agricultural land has been allotted. Surprisingly even for the construction of a big religious complex, forests spread over hundreds of ‘kanals’ of land have been sacrificed with no fault of theirs. Similarly for the last few years 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 Rakh, Mahamaya forests, Majin Forests, Siddada Forests, Ramangar Forests, Nagrota forests, Bajaalta forests and also to a large extent by Nandini Forests. In these circumstances the rise in temperature must not be an unusual phenomena but the selfish attitude of a particular section of the society. This rise in temperature in Jammu is very soon going to affect the availability of clean drinking water. The days are not far when the people of Jammu, if they do not raise a voice to save the greenery, will fight for a bucket of water with fellow citizens.
