The valleys of Kashmir are showing a very concerning image laying barren and brown instead of covered with snow creating a magical winterland whose images people can’t stop posting on their social media profiles.
The snowless regions of Kashmir are not just resulting in sad pictures but also have a big impact on the tourism of the place. And not just that, but as per experts there could be bigger problems for Jammu and Kashmir than just a drop in tourism, problems that could have an impact on the daily lives of the people living there.
No Snow In Kashmir?
The Kashmir Valley’s lack of snow has got the weather experts and analysts extremely concerned given that the region has seen an alarming 79% decrease in rainfall since December and along with that no snow till yet in several areas.
Director of Kashmir Meteorological Centre Mukhtar Ahmad speaking with ANI claimed the reason behind this was the El Nino effect.
Essentially, the rising temperature of the sea surface in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean creates a disturbance in global weather patterns thus affecting Kashmir too such as lack of rainfall, mild winters, and low snowfall in areas that would otherwise experience almost four to six feet deep snow.
Ahmad stated “The whole of December and the first week of January has been dry. There are no major precipitation chances in the coming days. The weather may remain dry till noon of January 16. There was a pattern of early snowfall for the last three to four years which is missing this year. There is no major spell. El Nino has persisted since November and may continue till next month.”
Meteorologists have also claimed that the El Niño weather event has been impacting several places on Earth and was also the reason that 2023 was declared to be the warmest year on record.
As per the European Space Agency’s satellite images, it seems not just Gulmarg but various other spots like Sonmarg, Pahalgam, Aru Valley, and Tangmarg have also not gotten any snow despite being almost halfway done with the 40-day winter period called Chillai Kalan.
Gurez Vallery, which is at a higher altitude usually has to close down the roads because of excess snowfall, however, this year the Bandipora-Gurez road which is around 85 km long, was reported to be opened even as far as January 9, 2024.
According to reports, this is the first time that so many areas in Kashmir are experiencing little or practically no snowfall in January.
The Impact
As per reports, the lack of snow in Kashmir is having a big impact on tourism and could potentially also cause the Khelo India Winter Games to be postponed.
Gulmarg saw a 70% drop in tourists this year as Rouf Tramboo, the President of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, while the lack of snow led to many people canceling their hotel bookings and other reservations in the area especially.
Beyond these, one of the biggest concerns is also the impact this could have on the water reserves in Jammu and Kashmir and how the summer could mean a shortage of water in the region.
Rivers like Jhelum and more depend on the snow to keep them at certain levels something that Mukhtar Ahmad, director of the Indian Meteorological Department at Srinagar also pointed out.
Speaking with India Today he said it “could turn dire as there might not be enough water to feed the snow-fed rivers”.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of metrology and climate change at Skymet also commented “Due to less or no snowfall, the glaciers won’t get recharged, so the glaciers will melt at a faster pace.”
