Nature’s signal

The recent hailstorm in Meghalaya and Assam was not just strange weather, but a warning for the Northeast. Big ice(hail) falling may look unusual, yet it reflects a larger change. Rains in the Northeast are becoming uncertain, summers warmer and storms stronger, all in a region that already lives with earthquakes and unsafe building, so when these dangers join, the risk grows sharply. The Eastern Himalayas, which protect the Northeast, are under stress because mountain ice is melting fast and rain no longer follows a fixed season. While some years bring drought, others bring floods, even as large dams rise across Tibet, Bhutan and Northeast India, with roads cut through hills and towns expanding on fragile slopes. Experts have warned that this sensitive region could face a disaster like Nepal suffered in 2015, largely because people are building faster than preparing for danger. The main worry lies under the surface , since land beneath the Himalayas is always moving. The Indian landmass is slowly pushing into Asia, a movement that created the Himalayas, keeping cracks in Myanmar and along the India-Myanmar border constantly active. Earthquakes here are therefore normal, with small tremors common and large quakes striking at intervals. The 7.7-magnitude quake in Myanmar and Thailand in March 2025 and the 7.0-magnitude quake in Tibet in October 2026 remind us of the forces below. Since much of the Northeast lies in Zone V, the highest risk zone, the pressure underground will one day be released as a quake. Climate change may not directly cause a major quake, but it can make the outcome far more deadly. When heavy rain soaks the hills for days, the soil turns loose and heavy, and if a quake shakes that wet slope, even a medium tremor can bring down entire hillsides within minutes, burying villages, roads and bridges. Another dangerous chain begins with warming, as lakes formed by melting glaciers grow in Tibet and the high Himalayas. Held back only by weak walls of ice and mud, they can break after an earthquake or landslide, sending walls of water down suddenly to destroy valleys in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam within hours. Human work adds to the risk because cutting hills and building reservoirs can weaken fragile slopes. If a quake damages an upstream dam during heavy rain, towns below will have almost no time to escape, like in Nepal recently. So although roads and power projects are needed, they must respect the limits of these soft mountains. Rain data confirms the same worry, for in 2021 parts of the Northeast faced very dry conditions while major floods affected 15 states, up from only 8 in 2017. Caught between too little and too much water, farming, drinking water and safety are all being harmed. Although people cannot yet predict earthquakes, they still need strong building rules that keep homes and schools safe, reliable warnings for floods and storms, and careful planning that decides where to build, where to avoid building and how to protect forests that hold the soil. The Northeast does not need sympathy after a disaster, but care before the next one strikes. The hailstorm was only a small warning, and the next could be a tremor or a flood, so let us act wisely before nature turns into tragedy.