Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
A terrible accident occurred in Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir. A sudden flood caused heavy havoc due to cloudburst. So far 60 people, including two CRPF jawans, have died. More than 120 are injured. About two hundred and fifty people are missing. 167 people have been rescued. Kishtwar allrsed houses, houses, shops, roads and bridges in Chishoti, a hundred kilometers away. The number of people who died in this natural disaster can increase considerably because in the area where the cloud is cracked, about one thousand devotees had gathered for the Machail Mata Yatra. Hundreds of these are missing.
Problems are being faced in rescue operation due to continuous rains. Helicopters cannot fly, the roads are washed away, the ambulances are facing difficulties in reaching hospitals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah that the government would help all possible. Natural disasters have now increased during the rainy season in the hilly states. On Thursday, clouds erupted in many areas of Himachal. In the last 24 hours, there was heavy rains from Shimla, Kullu, Lahaul Spiti to Kinnaur, due to which houses, shops, vehicles were swept away.
In the last five years, the incidents of cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand have been doubled in the last two months. So this is a matter of concern. The government has formed a committee of five scientists to find out the cause of increasing cases of cloudburst in the mountains of Himalaya. I think the flood that came in Kishtwar is a warning of nature. The cloud that exploded in Himachal is a warning of nature.
If we collide with nature and play, then one day it will break as havoc. If you cut the mountains, stop the path of rivers, cut trees, then one day water and debris will take everything away and no one will be able to save from the scene of destruction. We saw the condition of Uttarakhand, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir. Lost his people. Even if this scene of waste does not open the eyes, nature will repeat it again. If we still do not learn a lesson, then the next time we will come with destruction and intense.
Remove Delhi’s hollow trees immediately
In the Kalkaji area of Delhi, an old neem tree fell due to rain on Thursday and a man Sudhir Kumar died after being buried under it. Sudhir Kumar was going to office by sitting on a bike on a bike. It was raining heavily at that time, the road was full of water, traffic was in slow pace. As soon as Sudhir Kumar overtook a car, an old neem tree planted on the road fell on the bike.
Sudhir Kumar and his daughter were buried under this tree. A car was also hit by a tree. People tried hard to save the father and his daughter buried under the tree but to no avail. The fire brigade team cut the tree and removed Sudhir and his daughter, but by then Sudhir’s breath had stopped, Priya Safdarjung is fighting for life in the hospital. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has asked the officers to investigate the situation of all the old trees of Delhi and ordered the trees which have become weak and hollow, immediately ordered to be removed.
The tree in Delhi who killed an innocent citizen was on the verge of falling. Most of the trees along the roads in Delhi have become old. The trees around which the roads or tracks of the concrete have become hollow. Trees have become weak due to cabling in many places. But according to the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, neither a tree can be cut, nor can it be removed without the permission of the Tree Officer, nor can it be removed. Due to fear of law, government officials are also afraid of putting their hands on trees. Because of this trees fall, but this law has a provision for emergency cases. If a tree becomes fatal, becomes a threat to property or traffic, it can be demolished.
Now the Chief Minister of Delhi, using this emergency provision, ordered the removal of dangerous trees, immediately identifying them. Well done. But should the officers not have taken this decision before? Why did the authorities not use this emergency power? What steps will be taken against those who are responsible for this death? (Rajat Sharma)
See: ‘Today’s talk with Rajat Sharma’ full episode of August 14, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ad7pmso4e
Latest india news
