The snow-capped peaks of Kashmir have long been the lifeblood of a civilisation. Rivers, lakes, saffron fields, orchards, and millions of livelihoods all draw from the glaciers that crown the valley. But today, those glaciers are vanishing. Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh together host nearly 18,000 glaciers and every single one of them is in retreat. Over the last 60 years, the region has lost 25–30% of its glacial mass. The iconic Kolahoi Glacier, the largest in the Kashmir Valley, has receded by roughly 25% since 1962, losing approximately 35 metres of ice length every year. Studies project that if current trends continue unchecked, the region could lose 70–85% of its glaciers by 2100.
We have lost 25–30% of glaciers in the past 60 years and could lose up to 70% by the end of this century if the trend continues,” warns Dr. Irfan Rashid, Assistant Professor at the University of Kashmir, adding that temperature projections of 4°C to 7°C rise by century’s end make further retreat virtually inevitable.
These are not merely the statistics. These are alarming bells for a region where water, food, and cultural identity are all woven into the fate of its glaciers.
The last decade witnessed an extraordinary surge in infrastructure development across J&K; big road projects like widening of Jammu Srinagar, Srinagar Baramulla Highways, Jammu Katra Expressway, road widening & construction of tunnels on Jammu Poonch Highway, railway connectivity upto Kashmir valley, ring roads in both Jammu as well as Srinagar, and tourist access routes carved into previously untouched terrains. Any government would rightly take pride in completing such projects in one of the most geographically challenging regions in the world. But progress came with a cost that was never fully accounted for. Hundreds of thousands of indigenous trees Chinar, Poplar, Walnut, and Cheer in Kashmir; Mango, Peepal, Neem, Jamun, and Moringa in Jammu were felled to make way for concrete and the bitumen. Entire hillsides, on the way, were blasted and carved using heavy modern machinery, extending roads and tourist infrastructure deep into ecologically sensitive high-altitude zones. The green lungs of the region were systematically dismantled, yet neither the NHAI nor the J&K Forest Department has, yet, implemented any credible, concrete plan to restore this loss. How much saplings of trees of indigenous varieties like Chinar, Poplar, Walnuts, Cheer, Mangoes, Peepal, Arjun, Jamun, Moringa etc have been planted along with treeguards and sufficient manpower for their safety & maintenance, till these are fully grown, to compensate for the loss of lacs of old aged indigenous varieties of trees laid down during the famous roads and railway projects? The question remains unanswered!
Deforestation in upper catchment areas has directly worsened glacier stress, reducing moisture retention, altering local temperature regimes, and exposing fragile ice zones to increased human-induced warming. In recent years, we saw a massive increase in the number of motor vehicles leading to rise in carbon emissions; increased volumes of city wastes, plastic pollution and effects of Global Warming further have worsened the situation. There is an unprecedented rise in temperatures; last year it rose up to 39 degrees in Kashmir valley. Rapid glacial melt feeds flash floods and cloudbursts with increasing frequency and ferocity. The catastrophic 2014 Kashmir floods remain a raw wound in public memory. Flash floods caused devastation in Jammu, last year. Cloudbursts have become almost routine. Each monsoon season claims lives and destroys communities. These events are not simply acts of God. They are the compounded result of unsustainable growth, rampant deforestation, rising carbon emissions, and decades of neglect toward environmental policy. Calling them purely “natural calamities” is a comfortable evasion of responsibility. Only last year, we witnessed a number of cloud bursts in J&K at Chashoti, Shree Mata Vaishno Devi track & others resulting in the loss of hundreds of precious human lives. This year, also, a number of cloud bursts occurred especially in the Doda Kishtwar area like the Gahan area of Sarthal in Kishtwar, Machipal in Kishtwar, Bandekhra Nalla in Thathri, Doda. A cloudburst in Tulail Valley (Gurez) caused flash floods in the Chakwali nallah, damaging roads, agricultural fields, and a vital bridge; debris and water entered villages and low-lying areas.
These are all man made calamities more and lesser the natural calamities. These are results of unsustainable growth, a massive deforestation, big carbon emissions and climate change.
Kashmir’s beauty is not a collection of isolated features. It is an interconnected web. Its rivers, lakes, saffron fields, orchards, wildlife, and the legendary Hangul deer all exist in delicate dependence on the glaciers above. Tear one thread, and the entire fabric begins to unravel. The glaciers are melting. The forests are thinning. The floods are worsening. We built roads to the mountains, but forgot to protect the mountains themselves. The time for pride in concrete milestones must now be matched with the courage to confront what we have cost ourselves in the process.
“Concrete Dreams, Vanishing Peaks: The Human Cost of Development in J&K”
By: Anuj Kumar Verma
