Kashmir's gushing springs stand to lose their lifeline

Kashmir is on the verge of losing its most cherished natural gifts — the gushing streams, springs and rivers that make it a paradise on earth — because the Kolahoi glacier that feeds these is on the melt.
 
Situated at 3,600 meters, the gigantic glacier in Pahalgam’s Lidder valley is losing 20 meters of mass annually, making it one of the fastest-depleting glaciers in the globe. Thirty-six year old geologist Dr Ghulam Jeelani, who has been working on a project to save the glacier, blames human interference and faecal discharge as one of the reasons for an increase in temperature that is melting the ice-body.

Jeelani, an assistant professor of Geology in the University of Kashmir, has been studying the causes of the depletion in mass for the past two years and presents a grim picture of the glacier. “Most of the Kolahoi glacier is in ablation stage, which means it is melting fast. There is very less accumulation happening. On an average, 20 meters of glacier mass is melting annually at Kolahoi”, said Jeelani.

The Jhelum and Lidder rivers as well as several other water bodies are nourished by this glacier. It is a major source of water to springs in Anantnag and feeds various tributaries.

“In April and May, our water bodies overflow because of the melting snow. But, in June, the supply reduces. There are various reasons for that, and human interference is one of them,” said Jeelani.

What’s more alarming is that most of the springs in Anantnag are contaminated by faecal matter. “If we have to prevent the glaciers from melting and contamination, we have to regulate the Amarnath Yatra. Because of faecal discharge in the East Lidder catchment area, the glacier is melting and the water that reaches springs directly, is polluted,” he said.

A team of experts has doubled up efforts to save this glacier. A weather station has been set up and a hydrological centre is in the process of being installed at the glacier. A GPR system, to gauge the Kolahoi’s thickness, is in  the offing.

Himalayas  warming faster
Northwestern Himalayas has become 1.4 degrees Celsius warmer in the past 100 years, a far higher warming level than the 0.5-1.1 degrees for the rest of the globe, scientists have foun
d.
Scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Pune University’s geology department found warming has delayed winters and reduced snowfall. The study was published in International Journal of Climatology published from London.