40,000 people behind snow walls: Marwa–Warwan’s untold winter crisis

Anantnag, Dec 1: As winter sets in, Aajid, 30, a labourer from Yourdu village in the scenic Marwa valley of Kishtwar district, has shifted to south Kashmir’s Anantnag.

He now lives in a rented room in Mati Gawran village of Kokernag with his family.

With his wife expecting, he said there was no choice but to leave home.

“I didn’t want to take any risk,” he said. “In the past, many pregnant women died because they couldn’t get proper treatment.”

Zahoor Ahmad Lone, 40, from Hajwag village, has done the same after his wife underwent surgery.

“She needs regular follow-ups,” Lone said. “The road can close any day now, so we had to move.”

Muhammad Sultan, 55, of Aafti village in Warwan relocates his family to Mati Gawran- Kokernag each winter for better access to healthcare and work.

“There are very few medical facilities in our area,” he said. “Patients and expectant mothers suffer the most. That’s why we move out for six months and work as labourers.”

The twin valleys of Marwa and Warwan, home to around 40,000 people, are still not connected to the Kishtwar district headquarters.

Their only surface link is the 100-kilometre Margan Top–Warwan–Marwa road via Kokernag in Anantnag, opened in 2007. But the high-altitude pass remains snowbound for nearly six months, cutting the region off every winter.

Even in summer, the road to Marwa and Warwan is dangerous in several stretches. In winter, Margan Top at 14,000 feet is buried under eight to 15 feet of snow.

The valleys also receive heavy snowfall, and temperatures drop to minus 15 degrees

As the closure nears, some families migrate to Kashmir, while others stay behind and hurry to stock up on essentials.

Ghulam Hassan, 60, a farmer from Astan village in Marwa, was among those making last-minute purchases in Kokernag.

“I came here to buy medicines and warm clothes,” he said. “We won’t be able to travel again until May.”

Hassan said residents must rely on erratic mobile service and an old telephone-exchange system to communicate.

“Life is difficult with no proper communication or electricity,” he said. “The harsh winter only makes it worse.”

Most families in Warwan also stay behind.

“I visited Anantnag in November to stock up on essentials,” said Ghulam Qadir, 60, of Choidraman village. “Once snow starts, we’re completely cut off.”

Despite electric poles being installed in 2017, the region still has no electricity. Residents depend on solar power, which barely lasts through long winter nights.

“The absence of electricity, water supply, and proper communication makes life unbearable,” Qadir said.

Even where water supply exists, pipes often freeze.

“Men and women walk miles to fetch water from frozen sources.”

Health services collapse every winter as doctors are unable to reach the valleys.

Primary Health Centres (PHCs) often function without medical staff.

“In emergencies, patients are sometimes airlifted,” said Rouf Lone, 35 a Marwa resident who migrates to Achabal during the winter.

“But such cases are rare, and many lives are lost due to the lack of basic facilities.”

With the Kokernag–Sinthan route also closing in winter and no road linking the valleys to Kishtwar town, residents are left with no option but to endure months of isolation.

For the 40 villages of Warwan and Marwa, winter is not just a season; it is a test of survival, marked by uncertainty, limited resources, and the feeling of being forgotten by the state.