welcome to a new world

a newsitem in today's indina express. Welcome to the new world order. we are worried about Indian culture where the very existence of Indian and the world is at stake.
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With a severe dust storm raging in Guwahati, airlines including Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Indigo, were unable to land here on Monday. The situation was compounded as the Instrumental Landing System was not functional at the Gopinath Bordoloi Airport.

“Nobody had ever imagined that dust storms would throw air traffic in Guwahati out of gear. And it is now happening almost every day,” SK Borthakur, a professor of Botany at the Gauhati University, said. With Guwahati reeling under the impact of duststorms he is worried that the government does not have a contingency plan to tackle this new disaster.

The dust storm follows a six-month long dry spell in the Northeast which has also led to rampant forest fires in the region. The fires have caused large-scale destruction in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim over the last few weeks.
“Increasing incidence of forest fire is an alarm bell for the Northeast. Forests are becoming dry and thus more combustible. But I think some of them are also man-made fires, with the intention of encroaching land by destroying forests,” Borthakur added.

The dry spell has also resulted in a severe water crisis. With most of the residents dependent on tube wells, depletion of the ground water table has only made things worse.
Scientists at the Assam Science, Technology & Environment Council (ASTEC) are worried about the impact of climate change which is behind these alarming developments. “Wanton destruction of forests and hills has added to the woes in the Northeast. “ said Ranjit Barman, a senior scientist with ASTEC.

Officials at the Regional Met Centre here have described the dry spell in the Northeast as unprecedented. DK Handique who currently heads the Regional Met Centre said that there had been a time when not a single day went by without it raining in some part of the Northeast. “But except for a few showers in the Upper Assam districts and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, there has been no rain at all,” he said.