Shimla/Dharamshala, July 14 -- Rain related fury this monsoon season has wrecked Himachal with colossal damage to lives and property. While 98 people have died since the onset of monsoon since June 20, 34 people are still missing, even as dozens of houses, roads, along with other structures have been harmed with the state suffering a loss of Rs.800 crore. But this is not something new, Himachal has been grappling with this issue for the past many years now. With climate change being one of the reasons, the experts have also pointed to unchecked construction, flawed development models, and ecological disregard, a leading reason for this. Suresh Atri, principal scientific officer, department of environmental science and technology, said, "The narrow valleys, hilly areas and areas with weak soil here are not able to withstand the onslaught of heavy rain. Owing to global warming the temperature is increasing and so are these incidents," he said. Atri said that while forests are important for the environment, planting too many trees without planning can also be harmful. "Thousands of trees are being cut and the efforts to compensate for the loss by planting trees is sometimes not balanced," added Atri. Cautioning that in future, incidents of cloudburst and heavy rains may increase further, Atri said: "In such a situation, it is very important that before building houses or roads, there should be a complete scientific investigation," said Atri. Former director of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and consultant with the Himachal's energy department, LN Aggarwal, said that one of the primary reasons for landslides in the Himalayas-particularly in Himachal Pradesh-is road cutting. "When roads are carved into stable slopes, the natural top-to-bottom alignment of the hill is disturbed. The hills in this region are made up of layered rock formations. Road construction often exposes these layers and joints, a process known as "daylighting", bringing them to the surface. When water seeps through these layers it reduces their stability and increases the likelihood of slipping," he said. Professor Ambrish Kumar Mahajan, head of department of geology at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh said, "There are several contributing factors. One of the major reasons is the increased intensityof rainfall in recent times due to climate change. Rainfall events have become shorter but more intense, which puts additional stress on the fragile mountain ecosystem of the state," hesaid. Tikender Singh Panwar, an expert on urban transition based in Shimla said, "Extreme weather events that took place once in a century are now occurring more frequently. These disasters are not random. There is a need to identify vulnerabilities, map them and not build at all in landslide zones."...