Melting Hopes?

Shopian, Jan 17: Has climate change begun taking its toll on us, asks Daniya.

Last year, around this time, the 8th-grade student built a 3-foot-tall snowman with a carrot nose in her courtyard in south Kashmir's Shopian town.

Similar snowmen popped up in the courtyards of many of her schoolmates, spurring a competition within their peer group to share their best snow creations on the social media handles.

However, this year, a protracted dry spell has not only barred them from creating snow-made images but also prompted them to think about the baneful impacts of global warming.

“I have read in my textbook about climate change and its impacts. Now we are experiencing it,” said Daniya. “It’s getting worse.”

Ideally, during the Chillai Kalan, the harshest leg of winter, the upper reaches of south Kashmir receive heavy snowfall with even some areas in Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama, and Anantnag experiencing 4 to 6 feet of snow.

Experts say that a decrease in Western Disturbances and a gradual increase in temperatures are the factors, which contribute to diminishing snowfall.

“Last year, around this time, our village had received around 3 to 4 feet of snow and the children were engaged in different playful activities,” said Javed Ahmad of Aru village in Pahalgam.

Snow sliding, building snowmen, and carving snow tunnels were some of the activities children would engage themselves in the outlying villages of Kashmir during the snowy winters.

“This Chillai Kalan I missed the snowman most,” said 13-year-old Faizan from Pulwama.

Over the past few years, snow cricket tournaments gained much popularity in Kashmir.

Last year, a host of such tournaments were organised in both north and south Kashmir districts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned one such tournament held in district Pulwama in his monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

It was followed by organising a women’s snow cricket tournament in Kupwara.

“Winter without snow is akin to spring without greenery,” said Muhammad Amir of Pulwama.