Gulmarg, a popular skiing destination in Jammu and Kashmir barely saw any rainfall this year, leaving tourists dejected and locals worried about their livelihood. This season, the Kashmir valley saw a massive rainfall deficit of 79 percent throughout December. Even in January, the snowfall was close to nil. Normally, around this time Gulmarg would be flush with snow-topped slopes. Tourists would take the famed Gulmarg Gondola, which is the second longest and second-highest cable car in the world, to soak in the snowy landscape and reach elevated slopes for skiing. Last week, Kashmir Express Travel Company shared a video that captured the snow-less state of Gulmarg.
A post shared by Kashmir Express™ Travel Company (@kashmirexpress)
This clip has over 1.8 lakh likes so far. Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur commented on this post and wrote, “You only need to look at old Bollywood films to know the beauty of Gulmarg in winter as we knew it .. this is such a reminder of how vulnerable the Himalayas are to climate change. Remember that the same is happening to our glaciers .. and as our glaciers start to melt our great rivers .. including the Holy Ganga will alternately dry up or go into flood .. it’s time to act!”
Another asserted, “For once someone has the courage to show the real truth. Everyone else is posting old reels over and over again to attract tourists.”
An Instagram user suggested, “The business owners and locals should demand a quota for tourists coming to Gulmarg per year. An online booking system for tourists. Although this may sound harsh and uneconomic at first, it will save the ecology big time. Plus it will create revenue for the Gulmarg Development Authority. Normal economic profit is better than economic loss and the end of tourism. Also the Government should create a hub of electric vehicles at Baba Reshi split so that the upper region is saved from constant vehicular pollution. It will be a tough step but a sustainable one. And obviously a huge plantation drive is important to save the place and people’s livelihood.”
This season’s dry spell in Kashmir Valley is being attributed to the El Niño effect. During the El Niño effect, the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean gets warmer than usual. This warming triggers a shift in atmospheric circulation and results in reduced rainfall over Indonesia, India, and northern Australia and increases rainfall and tropical cyclone formation over the tropical Pacific Ocean.
While El Nino’s impact can be seen as prolonged dry spells and low rainfall in hilly regions, it is manifesting as warmer winters in the plains. Many experts believe that global warming may be causing intense El Niño events.
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