Did you know…<\/p>
According to the 2011 census<\/a>, the Gujjars and Bakkarwals constitute 11.9% of the state\u2019s population \u2014 1.5 million out of 12.5 million.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Gujjars and Bakkarwals are the third largest ethnic group in J&K after Kashmiris and Dogras. Bakkarwals, numbering around half a million, migrate to different alpine pastures in the state, while most of the one million Gujjars live in mountainous areas where they depend heavily upon livestock rearing and small-scale agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nomads say that higher frequency of extreme weather events, shrinking of pastures and the raging armed conflict for over two decades have taken a heavy toll on them. \u201cIn today\u2019s time when flash-floods, landslides and cloud-bursts are killing our community members and livestock like never before, we need help from the government for our safety,\u201d leader of J&K\u2019s Bakkarwals, Choudhary Abdul Aziz, told thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, he said, the government\u2019s weather department can inform the nomads in time about the likelihood of a disaster in a particular area. \u201cWhen we go up the mountains, we have no communication with the plains. We had suggested that we should be given special phones for every group of families who travel together. But the government is yet to consider it,\u201d Choudhary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do not have proper tents to protect ourselves and our livestock from extreme weather events like hailstorms, cloudbursts and torrential rains. Often our family members and livestock fall sick following intense rainfall or hailstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, in flash-floods and cloudbursts, the nomads lose hundreds of sheep and goats every year. Last year, he said, around 30 families lost their entire herds of sheep and goats in Kulgam and Lar areas of Kashmir when a flash flood caught them unaware. Another family, he said, was completely wiped out by a landslide along with their 70 sheep. Choudhary went on to say that in 2014, one of the nomad families lost 150 sheep in the flash-flood in Nadimarg and three families were washed away by another flash-flood in Pahalgam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Changpa nomads in the Changthang region of Ladakh lost 24,624 Pashmina goats in an unexpected heavy snowfall in the winter of 2013<\/a>. This event was reported by national and international media given the fact that pashmina shawls created from the wool of the goats are among the finest in the world. The impact of the story led to government authorities providing facilities for the nomads in Ladakh like fodder, sophisticated tents, cooking gas and solar lights. As the seasonal migration began in April this year<\/a>, Javaid Rahi, the secretary of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation<\/a> (TRCF) stated that, \u201cthe main migration routes, including the Jamiya Gali, Gora Batta, Nanansar, Ropadi Dharhal Pass and Mughal Road were badly damaged due to heavy snowfall and rain during the last winter and required urgent repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rahi said that the government, apart from providing facilities to nomads in all the regions of J&K, should support the nomads in getting their livestock insured so that they are compensated for losses in the event of disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the government continues to ignore the nomads, their lifestyle and culture may well become history in a few years given the way they are suffering because of climatic events, armed conflict, attacks from wild animals and the shrinking of grasslands. Moreover they are not allowed to graze their livestock in some areas which nomads have traditionally used,\u201d Rahi told thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHundreds of nomad families have already quit nomadic life and are now working as labourers while some feel forced to beg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rahmat Ali, a nomad from Rajori, said that the area for grazing has diminished considerably over the past few decades. Earlier, he said, most of the nomad families used to have herds of more than 500 which have now come down to around 150 in an average family as pastures are increasingly getting out of bounds for pastoralists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople now own grazing lands in various areas; they charge us if we graze our livestock there. Pastures are now with the wildlife department, social forestry department, security forces and landlords,\u201d Ali told thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonum Lotus, the director of meteorology in the state\u2019s summer capital Srinagar, said that since the nomads move way up in the highlands for grazing their livestock, they are unable to get signals from mobile phones or radio. \u201cThis makes it impossible for them to receive weather updates from radio or through phone,\u201d he told thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He suggested that Digital Satellite Phone Terminal (DSPT) service be used to alert the nomads about extreme weather events. The national telecommunication corporation of India, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has already starter the DSPT service in some remote areas. DSPT works on satellite signal, but it is not mobile. This does not have to be a problem. \u201cDSPTs can be installed along the migratory routes of nomads so that they make and receive calls about weather information before making a decision on their movement,\u201d G.M. Mufti, the deputy general manager of telecommunications in Kashmir told thethirdpole.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Gujjars](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Gujjars-and-Bakkarwals-spend-summers-in-highland-pastures-along-with-their-livestock-Credit-Athar-Parvaiz-2.jpg\")
<\/div>Weather information over phone<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Nomad](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Nomad-Leader-Choudhary-Abdul-Aziz-Credit-Athar-Parvaiz-2.jpg\")
<\/div>Ray of hope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Kothas](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Kothas-serve-as-shelters-for-Gujjars-in-highland-pastures-Credit-Athar-Parvaiz-1.jpg\")
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