{"id":20094449,"date":"2022-07-12T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=94449"},"modified":"2023-08-18T11:28:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T05:58:44","slug":"heatwave-in-kashmir-spells-difficult-future-for-pastoralists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/heatwave-in-kashmir-spells-difficult-future-for-pastoralists\/","title":{"rendered":"Heatwave in Kashmir spells difficult future for pastoralists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year, the annual migration of Gujjars and Bakarwals to green pastures in Kashmir has not been routine. Usually, the two pastoralist communities spend November to April in Jammu, and May to October in Kashmir, but soaring heat<\/a> forced them to leave Jammu early this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving at the Banihal Pass in Kashmir late in March, Fula Begum \u2013 a member of the Bakarwal community \u2013 and her family have been struggling to find decent grazing for their sheep. \u201cNatural resources are our sole source of income, but it seems they\u2019re shrinking now. Our flock has to settle for less each day; there is no ample grass available and this is alarming for all of us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"people<\/div>
Fula Begum with her family, against a backdrop of what she calls \u201cdried up and burnt\u201d pastures (Image: Kaleem Geelani)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Who are the Gujjars and Bakarwals?<\/span>
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The Gujjar and Bakarwal communities are nomadic pastoralists in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who mainly herd goats and sheep. Under the Indian constitution, they are classified as \u201cScheduled Tribes\u201d, indigenous communities who are often socio-economically disadvantaged. According to the census, the tribal population<\/a> was 1.3 million in 2011, about 12% of Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s total population.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Every summer, pastoralists migrate from Jammu\u2019s forest plains to the alpine meadows of Kashmir. The migration is driven by the need for pasture for their livestock, as Jammu becomes drier in the summer. The nomads traverse mountainous slopes and roads for as long as a month, only stopping briefly along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst heatwave in memory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This year, the Gujjars and Bakarwals were affected by the unusual heatwave which set new records in March and April. According to Faizan Arif Keng, an independent weather forecaster<\/a>, these temperatures were over 10 degrees Celsius above normal for several days in March across Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the India Meteorological Department<\/a>, the city of Srinagar, in the high mountains, experienced the warmest March in 131 years this year, with Jammu, just off the plains, recording the second-warmest March temperatures since 1982. Keng told The Third Pole that this trend of rising temperatures inching close to, or breaking, records was true of weather stations across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n