THE winter this year has so far passed without much snow and rain. Though high altitude areas have received some intermittent snowfall, plains haven’t seen much. This has once again triggered concerns about the impact of the climate change in Kashmir. Deepening this concern is the fact that the scarce snow in the winter has a pronounced economic dimension. Though it is after several years that the winter has passed without sufficient precipitation, the Valley has a cause to be worried about the turn that the weather is taking. According to reports and some surveys, several natural streams in various parts of the Valley have reduced to a trickle in recent years. And the reason for this is the steady depletion of the glaciers. This has not only reduced the discharge in the rivers and streams but also made many water bodies extinct, affecting, in turn, the irrigation in the Valley.
The fast melting glaciers which are decreasing the discharge in the state’s rivers limit their capacity to irrigate land. Triggering alarm bells is the slowly shrinking Kolahai glacier, the biggest in Valley, which is the source of Lidder and Sindh, two major streams of river Jehlum. Glacier, according to a study, has lost almost 23 percent of its area since 1962 and has fragmented into smaller parts which translates into a loss of the area of 13.87 square kilometres. It is also losing mass at the rate of about 1.0 m water equivalent annually, which is significantly higher than the glaciers in the rest of the Himalayas.
The situation is no different with other glaciers. Over a decade ago, a report by Action Aid revealed an overall 21 percent reduction in the glacier surface area in the Chenab basin. The mean area of glacial extent in the state has also declined from 1 sq km to 0.32 sq km from 1962 to 2004, the report said. Many of the areas, the report added, have witnessed a complete disappearance of small glaciers in parts of eastern Srinagar and Pirpanjal mountain range in district Pulwama. In other areas, like Budgam, the height of the small glaciers has reduced to over one-fourth of the original height.
Similarly, the upper reaches of the Sindh Valley in Ganderbal district, the Najwan Akal which was said to be a major glacier, has completely disappeared today. Thajwas, Zojila and Naranag glaciers which once used to last up to October through November till a few decades back too have considerably reduced. The report said the length of the Hangipora glacier in Anantnag has reduced from 35ft to 12ft and the Naaginad glacier has reduced from 30ft to 10ft.
Like Kolahai, the glacialised area of Suru, which was about 72 sq kms 40 years ago, has shrunk by 16.43 percent and dozens of its around 300 glaciers have already vanished. If the recession of the Himalayan glaciers goes on at this rate, the discharge in state’s rivers would substantially go down, leading to a catastrophic situation.
Ever since, more damage has been done. Though we can do nothing about the larger, global scale changes in the climate, we certainly need to address the local man made causes that reinforce their impact on us. To start with, we need to undertake an honest study through a professional consultancy on how the climate change is going to affect us in the long term. And what actions we should take to cushion its impact. This will go a long way to goad the government to institute necessary policy changes and a plan of action that takes a better care of our environment.
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