India, Aug. 12 -- There has been death and destruction again this monsoon, caused by hydro-meteorological disasters of cloud bursts and flash floods, first in the north-east and now in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Innocent people, their livestock and houses, along with roads, bridges and other infrastructure were washed away. This was followed with blocked roads, power shutdowns and water supply disruption, causing further misery and hindrance to the ongoing response. The monetary losses have run into multiple crores.

The main cause of this catastrophe is that stability of land has been allowed to be disturbed, and its strength to face nature's onslaught weakened. This becomes complicated when coupled with haphazard and unscientific...