The Mountains Are Sending a Message, Are We Listening?

Shoiab Mohmmad Bhat

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“Nature has already delivered its message through floods, cloudbursts and shrinking glaciers. The time for debate is over; the time for climate action is now.”

Rising temperatures, growing developmental and environmental pressure and decades of ecological degradation have combined to push Jammu and Kashmir’s natural systems to a dangerous tipping point. What used to be described as “natural calamity” now increasingly reflects the influence of climate change, changes in land-use patterns, and the growing need for climate-resilient preparedness.

The Chenab Valley has provided the latest warning.

Fresh cloudbursts in the Chenab Valley, the rapid melting of the Amarnath ice lingam, mountains of untreated waste, and relentless riverbed mining may appear to be separate crises. In reality, they are all chapters of the same story.

Last year’s devastating cloudburst in Chisoti village of Kishtwar district claimed more than 75 lives and left behind a trail of destruction. Now, another cloudburst has struck the region, triggering flash floods and mudslides that damaged roads and disrupted life across Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts.

Transport movement along the Jammu-Doda-Kishtwar highway came to a standstill, once again exposing the vulnerability of mountain communities to extreme weather events.

For residents of these districts, such disasters are no longer rare or unimaginable. They are becoming part of a frightening new normal. Roads are washed away, homes are damaged, crops are lost, and livelihoods are interrupted with increasing frequency.

In mountain regions, where terrain is fragile and emergency response is often delayed by distance and weather, even a short burst of intense rainfall can turn into a humanitarian crisis. What used to be described as “natural calamity” now carries the unmistakable imprint of climate change, land-use pressure, and poor preparedness.

Events in the Kashmir Valley paint an equally alarming picture.

Temperatures surged during the past two weeks, and the naturally formed ice lingam inside the Amarnath cave melted within days of the pilgrimage beginning on July 3. This marks the second consecutive year that the ice formation has disappeared unusually early, despite the 57-day pilgrimage continuing until August 28.

Global warming explains part of this change.

Human decisions explain another part. Large numbers of pilgrims enter a highly sensitive mountain ecosystem during increasingly warmer summers, placing additional stress on glaciers, snowfields, and fragile alpine environments. More than 8,000 pilgrims departed from Jammu in the eighth batch of the Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra, highlighting the scale of human activity in an already vulnerable landscape.

The pilgrimage is deeply significant for millions of devotees, but devotion cannot be separated from ecological responsibility. If the mountain environment continues to deteriorate, the pilgrimage itself will become harder to sustain safely and respectfully.

Pilgrim safety also demands fresh thinking, particularly after the deadly cloudburst during last year’s Machail Yatra. Authorities and the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board should examine issues such as visitor numbers, waste management, route planning, and the duration of the pilgrimage before environmental conditions impose much harsher limits through future disasters.

Waste management presents another dimension of the crisis.

Official figures estimate that Srinagar generates nearly 600 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day, while independent estimates suggest that the actual amount may be considerably higher. Much of this waste ultimately finds its way into open dumping sites, water bodies, and riverbanks. The River Jhelum, once celebrated as the lifeline of Kashmir, increasingly carries plastic waste, household garbage, and untreated pollutants through the heart of the Valley.

This is not just an aesthetic issue. This is an unfolding health crisis. Clogged drains exacerbate the problem of flooding in cities. Contaminated water raises the threat of diseases. Dumping garbage invites pests. Burning of garbage pollutes the air in crowded neighbourhoods. In an area where tourism and farming thrive on the availability of water resources, waste disposal cannot be viewed as a peripheral issue. The practice of riverbed mining puts even more strain on the already strained ecosystem.

Unlicensed mining of sand, gravel, and boulders has become quite rampant recently, resulting in damage to rivers and streams between Kathua and Kupwara and Budgam and Baramulla. Unauthorised mining alters the course of the river, leads to erosion and weakening of embankments, and increases the likelihood of floods during heavy rains.

In a Himalayan region where rivers are already under stress from changing rainfall patterns and glacial melt, mining cannot be treated as a routine revenue activity. It is an ecological intervention with long-term consequences. Every truckload of illegally extracted material may bring short-term profit to a few, but it leaves behind a larger bill in the form of damaged infrastructure, unstable banks, and greater disaster risk for entire communities.

None of these developments exists in isolation.

Frequent and severe cloudbursts are being witnessed. The rate of melting of glaciers is increasing. Rivers are facing threats of contamination and extraction.

Forests are also experiencing threats to their existence. All these factors cumulatively indicate an environmental truth that the state of Jammu and Kashmir can no longer afford to overlook.

The region is experiencing more than bad weather or isolated ecological incidents. It is living through the early stages of a climate emergency. That emergency extends beyond rising temperatures and early stages of a climate emergency. It becomes far more destructive when it meets weak planning and poor enforcement. A cloudburst becomes deadlier when drainage systems are blocked, slopes are destabilised, and settlements expand into vulnerable zones.

Pilgrimage will become riskier if crowd management, waste management, and ecological carrying capacity are not evaluated in a proper manner. The river will become dangerous for the people if mining, dumping and encroachment continue unchecked.

There should be acknowledgement of the climate emergency in the region of Jammu and Kashmir, which should form a part of all planning processes from tourism, development, agriculture, disaster management, etc.

(1.) There is a need to create a climate action task force.

It is necessary to set up a high-level body that includes authorities in disaster management, environment, urban planning, forests, tourism and administration.

(2.) Enhance early warning systems for cloudbursts and landslides.

There is a need for better rain gauge data, timely warnings, siren systems and evacuation procedures, where communities can evacuate in time.

(3.) Put an end to illegal mining in river beds by implementing strict measures.

Illegal mining in rivers and streams needs to be monitored by using satellite images, field surveys and imposing fines. Also, the equipment being used for the extraction process needs to be confiscated and fined.

(4.) Riverbank protection and restoration of the rivers.

River embankments, wetlands, and floodplains should be restored and protected from encroachment. Native vegetation should be planted along vulnerable stretches to reduce erosion and improve natural flood buffering.

(5.) Modernization of waste management in Srinagar and other cities should be done. There is a need for the following:

Proper waste segregation at the point of origin, waste collection from each house, converting organic waste into manure, a recycling process, and scientific handling of landfills. The dumping of garbage near rivers and drains has to be stopped immediately.

(6.) Stop waste being dumped in the Jhelum River and other water bodies.

Regular cleaning and monitoring of drainage channels, river banks, and lakes need to be done. In addition, floating barriers of waste, interception and punishment for dumping should be put in place.

(7.) Evaluate the carrying capacity of the Amarnath Yatra.

It is time the Shrine Board and other concerned authorities evaluate whether the current duration, route arrangements, and daily numbers of pilgrims are eco-friendly. The carrying capacity of the environment should be one of the key determinants in the organization of pilgrimage.

Better arrangements for waste management on the routes of pilgrimage. More camps, toilets, disposal sites, and waste collection points should be established.

(8.) Invest in climate-resilient infrastructure.

The roads, bridges, drainage system, and buildings in the sensitive areas should be constructed in such a way that they can bear extreme rainfall, landslides, and floods.

(9.) Protect forests and high-altitude ecosystems.

Conserve forests and high-altitude regions. Degradation of the forest, illegal constructions and unregulated tourism need to be checked. Reforestation, slope stabilisation, and biodiversity conservation must be viewed as a climate change adaptation strategy.

(10) Engage the local communities in climate response.

Local communities such as villagers, panchayats, youth organizations, and NGOs must be trained in disaster preparedness, first aid, evacuation plans, and environmental monitoring. Local communities usually see the danger coming and respond first.

(11) Apply science to formulate policies and not political convenience.

Universities, weather scientists, glaciologists, and environmentalists must always be consulted. Policies relating to tourism, mining, construction, and land use must be evidence-based.

(12) Launch a public climate awareness campaign.

Citizens must understand that climate change is not a distant global issue. It is already affecting water, weather, agriculture, health, and safety in Jammu and Kashmir. Public awareness can build pressure for better governance and more responsible behaviour.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir do not need more proof that the environment is under strain. They are already living with the consequences. They see them in flooded roads, collapsing slopes, shrinking ice formations, polluted rivers, and recurring disasters that arrive with increasing speed and force.

Nature has already issued repeated warnings through floods, heatwaves, landslides, and cloudbursts.

The only remaining question is how many more disasters it will take before Jammu and Kashmir officially calls this what it is: a climate emergency.

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The Author is a writer, social educator and researcher from Baramulla, holds a master’s in Gender Studies and a BED. He can be mailed at shoaibhat2018@gmail.com