Source: The Sangai Express / S Singlianmang Guite
Lamka, October 08 2010:
Incessant rain continues to lash this southern district for the third consecutive day, leaving residents struggling to cope with the inconveniences of water logging, flooded streets etc.
There has been no respite from the rain that started pounding the district from early Wednesday compelling many senior residents to recall the days when there was downpour for seven straight days in the past.
''This kind of downpour that usually last for about seven days was a common phenomenon in the past.
We call it 'Ai Vuah' (Crab rain).
But of late due to the change in the local climate, it has become rare,'' Pu Thawng, an elderly resident of the township said.
The onset of 'Ai-vuah' that lasts for about seven days is normally in October and the phenomenon continues but with shorter duration till mid-November, the harvest season, he recalled.
However, of late phenomenon has become rare with rainfall lasting hardly for four days.
Now that the present rain has completed its third day, only time will tell if it manages to retain the past legacy, he said, adding, it will still be a record of sort in recent days if it enters the fifth day.
This picturesque township with hills on all its sides has in the past witnessed cloudburst, similar to the ones witnessed in Leh, around this time of the year.
The destruction it caused to life and property, however, was minimal in comparison.
The extensive deforestation in the district as a whole and the area surrounding the township is believed to be the immediate reason for the shortfall of 'Ai-vuah' phenomenon as well as the cloudburst.