As Kashmir receives fresh snow fall that too after chill-i-clan had just stepped out , I remember a couplet of kashmiri english poet Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali, who said about the winter
“Snow gleams as if a lover’s gaze has fallen to earth. How the season whitens! Even the evergreens are peppered with salt, and only love can take the place of the mountain.”
Snow cladden valley has always been an attraction for tourists and little souls of the valley as well to enjoy the picturescue of land , roofs and all that gets covered with it.
Snowfall brings the much needed cheer to the people of Kashmir especially farmers, as they need the snow for their agricultural fields. Snow fed streams help them to irrigate their fields properly. This is important for good production yields.
Increased economic development which has placed a strain on the infrastructure and as well as the state’s environment could be one of the reasons behind decreasing snowfall. Environmental conditions, in terms of degradation of the natural resource base and increasing pollution, continue to worsen. Deforestation, soil erosion, and land degradation are hindering economic development in rural areas. We must keep in mind that most population of the valley depends either on tourism or agriculture. No snowfall will have dire consequences on the valley’s population.
Making our environment better, will in turn be better for us as well as our future generations. It is very important for the people of Kashmir that the environmental concerns are stabilized at a level that does not endanger the humankind.
