Warning we can’t afford to ignore
Mainland India is presently grappling with severe heat wave conditions. Several states have been witnessing unbearable heat for the past many days and the weatherman has been asking them to be prepared to witness more harsh days ahead.
The situation this time around is proving to be more severe as the night temperature has been a cause of concern. Earlier after sunset people would tend to witness some relief but nowadays the situation has turned for the worse.
Even the IMD has been forecasting a rise in night temperatures across many states and this year the month of February has been declared as hottest month in terms of the night temperatures.
What is worrisome is that hilly regions like that of Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal did provide some relief for the people from the scorching heat but these hilly regions too are proving to be much warmer that they used to be earlier.
For generations, Kashmir’s calendar was predictable. Winter meant snow that buried rooftops in Gulmarg, fed glaciers, and promised water for summer. June meant cool evenings on the Jhelum. That contract with nature is now breaking.
From June to late September, hot and humid days have become routine. Srinagar now records hot and humid summers. People who once waited for winter now dread summer. The flip side is just as stark.
Winters stay dry. The snowfall that once draped the Valley for months arrives late, and is less in volume and melts fast when summer approaches. Sonamarg’s slopes, Pahalgam’s meadows, and even the plains see fewer white days each year.
Experts have warned us every season. Climate change is not a distant UN slide deck; it is the nallah behind your house running low in May. Yet the warnings slide off like water from a tin roof. We keep chopping trees for construction, clogging wetlands with concrete, and running diesel generators when the grid falters.
The gift Kashmir had – its green, cold, water-rich climate – is being traded away in instalments. The numbers behind the unease- Less snow, less water. The region’s rivers – Lidder in Pahalgam, Shaliganga in Doodhpathri, Doodhganga in Yusmarg – all rise from Himalayan glaciers.
With sparse snowfall, glacial recharge weakens. Ironically, the discharge data from the last decade shows a steady dip. Less snow today means less drinking water, less hydropower, and less irrigation facilities tomorrow.
Even agriculture is at risk as 70% of Kashmiris depend on farming and allied sectors. Paddy, apple, saffron, and walnut all sync with snowmelt and spring rain. March and April showers are down. When snowfall fails, summer rain can’t fill the gap. The result is agricultural drought, lower yields, and higher food costs.
Incidentally, dry winters and hotter summers raise the risk of forest fires. Parched forests in Shopian and Tral have already seen more and many other regions across JK have been reporting the same situation.
Right now we are just visualising a warning, tomorrow can be too harsh and difficult to change the ground situation. Better is to be prepared to face the harsh situation by trying to create means that will ease our situation to some extent.
