After a heavy snowfall, the threats of avalanches are looming large in the higher region. Avalanches after heavy snowfall are a major threat to human activities in all mountainous areas.
Predicting the behaviour of the snow and avalanches is of paramount importance to all concerned. History is full of such incidents where avalanches played havoc with the lives of the people as well as properties.
The threat of avalanches is not new as it has caused great losses in the past. In March 1979, 300 lives of people in J&K and Himachal Pradesh were lost in avalanches. In 1986, 60 were killed while crossing Jozilla pass in J&K, and in March 1988, 70 people were killed in avalanches in the Kargil and Kharbu areas.
In Lahul and Spiti District in 1979, a monstrous avalanche had washed away many villages and more than 300 lost their lives.
Mohan Lal Relingpa
