Dried up rivers & streams

At a time when the entire country is witnessing heavy rainfall amid monsoon, Kashmir valley continues to reel under the dry spell with temperature touching almost 36 degree Celsius. An orange alert has been issued for Delhi, Punjab and Haryana with the prediction of heavy rainfall in the coming days. As per the Indian Meteorological Department -IMD, Delhi experienced 228 mm of rainfall from 8:30 a.m. on June 27 to 8:30 a.m. on June 28. A total of 235.5 mm of rain was recorded, marking the maximum rainfall in 24 hours in June since 1936. The water levels in the Yamuna River have risen, prompting the authorities to issue an alert to the residents of Noida villages, situated along the riverbanks. In UP , Haryana, Punjab and other regions of North India including Himachal Pradesh and Jammu good amount of rainfall has occurred, but Kashmir valley continues to be under the grip of a dry spell with increase in the temperature.

Autumn in Summer

It is now almost more than a month and we haven’t witnessed rainfall in Kashmir except some light rainfall for an hour or so at scattered locations. The weather is hot and dry and it seems as if there is an autumn in Kashmir. While driving from Tangmarg to Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon I witnessed entire vegetation has become dry on the roadside. Except for paddy fields the other landscape looks dull. The public park at Kunzer Tangmarg looks so shabby as the entire green grass has turned pale. The meteorological department and private weather forecasters have warned that there will be further increase in the day temperature in the days to come. Srinagar recorded the second highest maximum temperature in the month of July. This is the highest in the last 10 years and the temperature continues to go up. The river Jhelum, Doodh Ganga, Shali Ganga, Vaishav, Brengi and other streams have dried up. This is causing not only irrigation water crisis but even many areas are facing drinking water crisis now

Gulmarg, Qazigund warm

I was in Gulmarg with some friends on Tuesday and we stayed there overnight. It was warm even around night time I personally observed. Srinagar has touched almost 36 degrees Celsius day temperature. In fact we have earlier also witnessed 35 degree plus temperature in Srinagar but it used to rain the next day but that is not the case now? The day temperature in Srinagar has been 5.7 degree Celsius above the normal temperature in the last one week. The maximum temperature in Srinagar was a bit higher than Jammu early this week i.e 35.6 degree Celsius and it was 35.5 degree Celsius in Jammu. Infact the temperature in Delhi was only 34 degrees the same day.

Qazigund which is known as the gateway to Kashmir recorded the third all-time highest temperature on Wednesday i.e 34.2 degree Celsius. This is unbelievable as this area is considered to be a cooler place. Except on one occasion on July 11, 1988 the temperature in Qazigund had touched 34.5 degree Celsius, however it was down within a few days as there was heavy rainfall after a few days.

Rivers, streams drying up

Prohibition of riverbed mining-RBM in monsoon has been reiterated by the environment ministry through its guidelines, and also courts. As per the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 and the Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020, riverbed mining shouldn’t be permitted in the rainy season between mid June to September. These guidelines are applicable to J&K as well but they are not enforced on the ground. Only official orders are passed which are hardly enforced on the ground. Few years back the the Director Geology & Mining Department at least issued a circular under office communication No: 59/MCC/DGM/CIRCULAR/15/3575-81 for imposing a ban on riverbed mining in monsoon, but we haven’t seen such a circular has been issued this time . Even if the same has been issued it hasn’t been made public at all. As I write this article the illegal sand mining and riverbed mining is going on across J&K . On an average 100 massive truck loads of boulders are illegally extracted from Sukhnag river alone in Sail area of Beerwah in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Same is the situation in Nallah Pohru in Kupwara, Vaishav in Kulgam , Brengi in Anantnag , Romshi and Rambiara in Pulwama / Shopian districts. This is leading to drying up of the rivers as the natural flow of the water gets impacted.

Conclusion

Srinagar and other districts in Kashmir have witnessed high temperatures during summers in the past also. The only difference was that it would definitely rain within a few days when the temperature would cross 35 degree Celsius, but is this not the case right now ? We have been witnessing 34 to 35 degree Celsius temperature for the last more than 10 days now. The rivers and streams have dried up in this monsoon season which is locally called Wahraat in Kashmir. This unusual climatic change was never witnessed in the past and this is indeed a matter of serious concern.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Senior Fellow Climate Action , Anant National University