Jammu, Sept. 24 -- Following incidents of land sinking in the Jammu region post- August downpour, experts have cautioned that the eco-fragile Himalayan terrain cannot withstand the unchecked hill cutting and tree felling and have advised to opt for the scientific studies to minimise the damage. "Don't simply cut the mountains and trees. Instead, make arterial roads elevated in and along the rivers and tunnels after scientific studies to minimize damage," said prof GM Bhat, former head of the geology department at University of Jammu. While heavy to very heavy rains in August this year left a trail of destruction in Jammu, subsequent incidents of land sinking in Reasi, Poonch, Ramban and Doda districts forced hundreds to flee their homes. Prof Bhat strongly felt that unplanned construction of highways, tunnels and dams without any serious scientific research will unleash more destruction in the upcoming years. "Simply don't cut the hills. Lay bridges in and along rivers to make arterial roads and dig tunnels. Cutting hills weakens soil cohesion and any prolonged spell of rain makes them vulnerable to start sinking," he said. He attributed these incidents to unplanned development, especially south of Chenab River, which primarily features brown hill soils on sandstone andshale besides presence of alternately hard rocks, along with alluvial soils in the river'splains. Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, IMD Director at Srinagar, attributed heavy to very heavy rainfall across Jammu region in August this year to a combination of two weather systems--above normal monsoon this year and western disturbance that sat over Jammu for almost a month. "The interaction of two weather systems over Jammu and Chenab Valley caused heavy to very heavy rainfall, like what we witnessed in Kashmir in 2014," he said. "Since J&K is a Himalayan region, hills here are always vulnerable to landslides and the heavy downpour caused landslip. Our hills are not stable probably due to increased development projects," he said....