In the world-famous Kashmir tourist resort of Gulmarg during December and January, tourists, horse-riders and snow sledgers alike see a similar look of dismay.
Gulmarg is a beautiful valley situated at an altitude of 2690 meters northwest of Srinagar which is covered with snow during this season and skiing enthusiasts from all over the world perform their tricks on the slopes of the valley.
The snow covered valley offers a beautiful view but this year the valley is deserted and those who came for snow viewing or skiing are disappointed.
Akshinet, a tourist from New Delhi said, “It’s not that we are not having fun, but it would be fun if there was snow.”
It should be noted that according to the official statistics, more than one crore tourists visited Kashmir last year and there was advance booking of hotels till March this year.
A tour operator said that fifty percent of hotel bookings have been cancelled. “This will affect not only hotels but travel agents, horsemen, taxi drivers and anyone who earns a living from tourism.”
“I used to earn 5 to 10 thousand rupees per day but not now”
57-year-old Mohammad Rafiq has been earning a living by driving a sled, a vehicle that runs on snow, since childhood. This year his sled has been idled along with many other such vehicles.
Now they have taken out a horse to feed their children, on which they earn a few bucks by driving tourists around the dry Gulmarg Valley.
“Earlier, there was a lot of hope that there would be snow and earnings, but when January came to an end, I thought that something new should be done.”
The young skier has been working as a ski trainer in Gulmarg for two decades. They didn’t even have time to talk last year but this year they are also sitting free.
A ski trainer told us that tourists from Russia, Germany, Australia, America and many European countries had made advance bookings, but when it came to the media that there was no snowfall, all the bookings were cancelled. I used to earn Rs 5,000 to 10,000 a day but now I come in the morning and just walk around, it’s like summer here. ‘
“Planned after seeing snow on social media, it was sunny when we got here”
Many films were also shot here in the snow, but dozens of films either changed the location or removed snow scenes from the story.
A film unit called Kishor Productions is currently in customs, but director Tamkeen Wasan says, “We try to show many seasons in the film. We came to shoot snow scenes in Kashmir with enthusiasm, but there was no snowfall.” Still we have tried to show beauty but snow is a different story.
A couple from the Indian city of Pune said, “Every year we were happy to see beautiful snow videos and videos on social media. We had never been to Kashmir so this year we planned and reached but here it is sunny during the day and cold at night. If you come to Gulmarg, neither skiing nor sled riding is possible here.
How will Pakistan be affected?
Experts say that if this series of drought continues for a few more years, the agriculture here will be destroyed, the effects of which were seen in vegetables this year.
Environmental expert Professor Shakeel Romshu says that the water of many rivers coming out of Kashmir, which goes to Pakistan, comes from the glaciers built on our mountains. Research has found that many glaciers, including Siachen, are shrinking in size.
Professor Romshaw says that India and Pakistan signed an agreement on sharing the waters of the Indus River in 1960, called the Indus Water Treaty.
When the water level is reduced from our side, which water will be shared? Not only the environment, but also the relations between India and Pakistan can be adversely affected by climate change.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has collected 140 years of data, which shows that rising temperatures during winters and lack of snow or rainfall is only a decade old problem.
Professor Romshaw says, “Interestingly, Kashmir is not an industrial region, the level of pollution here is also very low, thus we are not responsible for global warming, but it has bad effects on Kashmir.” ‘
People fear drought because water is an indispensable resource for Kashmir’s economy, environment and general life.
This is the reason why for the past one and a half months, people have organized special prayer meetings for rain and snow in big mosques, monasteries and Eidgahs and Istisqa prayers were also offered.
In many areas ‘saas rasa’ was done according to the local culture. In this, people collectively cook food in the settlements and feed the passers-by, but the usual snowfall has not yet occurred.
Muhammad Subhan Baig, an apple grower, says, “We are totally dependent on rain and snow. If this is the case, there will be a doomsday.