Monsoon season in Nagaland starts from May and lasts till September. The state experiences medium to heavy showers during these months and the intensity depends upon the location of the area and it’s vicinity to mountains. August and September witnesses the highest amount of rainfall. With the ever increasing impacts of climate change, the monsoon rains have become more unpredictable and extreme. While the monsoon rain is a blessing for water scarce districts like Dimapur, Longleng and Kohima, the incessant rain has demonstrated itself as destructive elsewhere; submerging towns, halting trade and businesses, landslides, blocking roads and transport, hailstorms, damaging properties and even claiming innocent lives.
Monsoon arrives in Nagaland accompanied by a number of monsoon related disasters. The most common and major disaster that keeps affecting the state is landslide. Much of the state is very hilly comprising of steep slopes and high relief. Nagaland is predominantly made up of shale’s and sandstones in various combinations.
Nagaland has faced some major landslide disasters over the past years. Some of the major tragedies are:-
On May 26th 2005, a disastrous landslide occurred in Mokokchung town where in the wee hours of the morning, 14 people were buried alive, so many more injured and extensive property damaged.
In July 2018, major road life lines were cut-off by massive landslides in Kohima where NH-29, also connecting Manipur was cut off putting the survival of the two states at stake. A school in Kohima was also affected by massive sinking of land which led to the evacuation and shifting of the primary campus located 20kms away. Incessant rain have also triggered massive landslides at Pezielietsie colony in Kohima damaging atleast 42 houses and affecting more than 40 families.
Another monsoon disaster the state faces is flood. Flood is a common occurrence and affects all the low lying areas of Nagaland bordering Assam. The major incident that shocked the entire state was during 11th-24th September 2008, where different colonies of Dimapur Town remained submerged. The colonies include Dobhinalla, Super Market, Nagarjan, Burma Camp, Walford, Sachu Colony, Nagagaon, Khermahal, Netaji Colony, Naharbari, and Airport Areas. Examinations that were going on during this time were also badly affected.
Windstorm or hailstorm is another major disaster that keeps affecting Nagaland during the monsoon. In 2016, hailstorm ravaged different parts of Nagaland damaging a total of 3759 houses. In Mokokchung district, 1,382 houses were damaged in which 283 kutcha houses were completely destroyed, 280 kutcha houses were severely damaged and 746 kutcha houses were partially damaged. In Longleng district, hailstorm incidents affected 34 villages from five circles namely, Yachem, Sakshi, Yongnyah Sadar and Longleng. The devastation left 342 partially damaged houses, 245 severely damaged houses and 56 fully damaged houses. In Wokha district, 449 houses were damaged by incidents of hailstorm/windstorm. Damages were also caused to infrastructure and plantations. In Kohima, heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds damaged six houses in Chiechema and Phezha under Kohima district besides damaging electrical post, power lines, uprooting trees along the NH-2 and even the rooftop of two houses were blown away.
The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) continues to urge the public to exercise vigilance and stay on high alert. Further, the NSDMA urges the public to continue checking the weather reports and taken necessary precautions to avoid any incidents and ensure the safety of lives and properties throughout the monsoon season.
K. Shitsucha
1st Semester
Department of Mass Communication
Nagaland University, Lumami.
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