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| Drought fears loom over Valley | | |
MUDASIR BHAT
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR: The dry spell that has gripped Kashmir valley this winter is likely to increase the shrinking speed of glaciers in the valley, paving way for another drought- ridden summer this year say experts.
At a time when whole of the world is concerned about the climate change at the global level, it has already taken its toll on the changing weather phenomenon in the climatically delicate valley. The recordings by weather department manifest that snowfall in the valley and its upper reaches is steadily on decline for the last five years.
“The valley is situated in a climatically delicate zone and a slight change in the rainfall or snowfall has strong and complicated implications over the economy of the state. Less snowfall means more rapid receding of the glaciers and it means less water”, says Shakeel Ramshoo, noted glaciologist and Associate Professor department of Geology and Geophysics, Kashmir University.
“And when there is less water, it affects the electricity generation and the irrigation of the fields. You see for the last one decade there has been transformation of the land and more and more people are opting for orchards than rice cultivation due to scarcity of water”, adds he.
Kashmir once used to be a favourite destination for those who would like to frolic in the abundance of snow. But with the winters going by almost snow-less for most of the time, tourism industry also has suffered a great deal in the recent past. “We used to get seasonal tourists from many countries besides from our own but that trend has changed and the valley is losing a huge amount for being devoid of snow in the winters”, says an official of tourism department.
“We can do pretty little in this regard. All we could do is to stop our bit of adding to the green house gases. Government can ensure efficient transport system thereby reducing the number of vehicles which in turn can decrease the emission of carbon dioxide. It will help a bit”, says Ramshoo.
Not only has the dry spell created concerns among the farmers and environmentalists, but it has made certain seasonal diseases recur at a faster rate. “The long dry spell has certain ailments attached to it. Dry cough, fever, headaches, nausea and other sicknesses are seen more common when there is no rainfall or snowing for a long time in the winters”, says Dr Ghulam Hassan of SMHS hospital Srinagar. |
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