Kashmir is known as the paradise on earth because of the scenic beauty , lush green forests , fresh streams, pleasant meadows , snowy Himalayas , multi colored blossoms etc . There is a famous saying and I quote ,” if there is paradise on earth, it is this , it is this, it is this”. If we go towards the history of Kashmir, it used to be a lake as mentioned in the famous book Rajatarangni written by Kalhana. And the water (lake) was drained out by Kayshap (saint) and then human population came into existence. Earlier when there was no technology at all, people lived peacefully and in harmony. Old people say there used to be lot of snow in the most critical period of the winter of Kashmir (40 days of chillai kalan) in the 90’s , they say there used to be 4-6 feet of snow in lower belt of Kashmir and in higher parts it used to be morethan 10 feet of snow during the said period.
Now from the last few years we see there is very less snow even no snow at all in mid December. The reason is very simple . It is only because of our undermining nature towards environment as we are facing problems day by day and it will keep on getting worse for us. Global warming is the main cause of the climate change in Kashmir. We are releasing too much of carbon dioxide, chloro floro carbons, methane and all the other green house gases that has led to global warming and hence increase in temperature. Moreover deforestation is also a cause of climate change in Kashmir. People cut down forests for their own benefit and don’t ponder about the consequence it would lead to. Forests play vital role in rainfall, cleaning the air etc. From the past 5-10 years there has been tremendous increase in the cutting of forests, which has turned them into barren land. And as a result we see less rainfall from the past few years. This eventually affects the vegetation scenario in Kashmir.
As per the meteorological department , there has been a rapid rise in temperature and it would tend to increase in the years coming ahead because we keep on practicing the same things again and again which leads to global warming. 2014 Disastrous flood in Kashmir was just the short introduction of environment instability that we may be facing in the coming years if we don’t recant for what we are doing. Rise in temperature due to global warming lead to melting of Himalayas and eventually lead to the flood in Kashmir that turned everyone’s mouth open.
Now this year’s winter started off like last year i.e. no snow which would ultimately lead to the drought. This dry spell is also very harmful to the human health as we see majority of us become of victim of many diseases like cold, cough, fever, body ache etc. so it has an adverse affect on our health as well. Now the main question is how to bring back the climate to normalcy? There are various steps that has to be followed by the local citizens (change only happens when individuals take action) as well as the government and these are:
- voicing your concerns:- you can simply educate netizens through social media about the consequences of climate change in Kashmir and what must be done to curb factors that lead to change in climate. Social media is not only about liking the photos of your friends and celebrities , it has its own power.
- use renewable source of energy at your home: Using solar energy which is eco friendly would reduce the pressure that we are putting on our hydro power projects. Using renewable energy means we are not harming our environment thus it would reduce global warming to some extent.
- Afforestation: Planting more and more trees would have a positive impact on our climate. Afforestation would ultimately lead to rainfall and would lessen the pollutants that are present in our atmosphere.
- Drive fuel efficient cars: New cars are coming in market that use CNG(compressed natural gas) and the other cars that use electricity to run. These vehicles are very cooperative to the environment.
On conclusion of my write up I want to pull my voice out “ if we don’t stop the actions that has put us on the point of nearby destruction, our future generations would curse us of being so least concern . Atleast think about the future generations to come. Be pragmatic and start changing your thoughts . Act more than vocal as action speaks louder than words.
Haroon Rashid can be reached at maddy.harry2@gmail.com
