Environment on the brink: J&K recorded 12 extreme weather events in last 5 months
Srinagar, Jun 4: J&K has witnessed at least 12 extreme weather events in 2025 already, a report has revealed, while the air, the waste management and temperature are grossly off the mark. Environment goals need immediate prioritisation to mitigate the effects of human activities in the eco-fragile region.
The report has compiled the extreme weather events in states and UTs of India between 2022 and 2025.
This data set has been sourced from the Disaster Management Division of Indian Meteorological Department. While extreme weather patterns continue to get more frequent, it has also led to displacements and internal migrations. In J&K, 12 extreme weather events were recorded in 2025, higher than any recent year. The year 2022 had 8 extreme weather events in J&K, while 6 and 4 were recorded in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In 2024, 535 internal displacements were attributed to dry mass movements, 1513 to hailstorms, and 33 to storms.
The states and UTs have been scored and ranked based on available data. On the parameters of Forests & Biodiversity and Climate Sub-Categories J&K features in the middle rung states and UTs. It has scored 53 points, crossing the halfway mark, far below Andhra Pradesh, which has scored 68.38 points, and also below all north-eastern states. Together among all states and UTs, J&K perches itself at the 24th rank, an area of concern. In terms of sustainable land use, J&K bags 50.9 points and 15th rank, a better performance on this indicator among states and UTs. J&K has failed to uptake the new renewable energy resources and depends solely on old renewable energy sources. Here, 98 percent of energy comes from old energy sources, while 2 percent is from new renewable energy sources. Not a single Bio-CNG plant is operational in the UT, and only one that has been registered is yet to get into construction mode. India has set itself a goal that 32 percent of its electricity generation must be from new renewable sources by 2030, a mark that J&K appears to be far from.
In terms of Air Pollution, J&K has had a share of bad air days. For the period between January 1, 2021 and March 31, 2025, Srinagar Air Quality was ‘Poor’ for 449 days. Comparatively, the Air Quality during the same period was ‘Good’ only for 339 days. Srinagar recorded 203 days of ‘Satisfactory’ Air Quality in the 1551 days that were studied. The Air Quality also went ‘Severe’ bad for two days in Srinagar.
Released on Wednesday, a compilation of multiple Government data sets, the ‘State of India’s Environment 2025 in Figures’ report, paints a picture of J&K and other state and UTs parameters affecting the environment. The report has been compiled by Down to Earth, Center for Science and Environment, New Delhi, and is the 10th annual report of the series. The report has been divided into 12 chapters, each dissecting the state of environment, agriculture, human development and sustainability, utilising and analysing published Government data. The numbers, the foreword of the report states, are the crutch that will help us understand the trends - what is shaping our world and our future; what is changing; what is improving; and what is not.
