“Experiences in the recent years have shown that short term measures don’t mitigate the sufferings of the farming community and henceforth the roll out of long term measures is an unavoidable hard reality that deserves immediate attention and intervention of the Jammu & Kashmir Government.”
The recent wave of flashfloods, cloudbursts, hailstorms that buried a part of under construction four lane Jammu-Srinagar highway and caused collateral damage to apple orchards and standing crops has exposed the realities of climate change in Jammu & Kashmir. As climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of flashfloods, cloudbursts, and hailstorms amid repeated warnings from scientists and weather experts year after year, the preparedness of the Government to overcome failures in agriculture and horticulture sectors necessitates review of the disaster management plans and practices adopted as adhoc measures. While effects of climate change are rippling through every sector of economy, the horticulture and Agriculture sectors believed to the backbone of Kashmir economy, is under severe stress. The horticulture and agriculture sectors coming under more stress in the wake of heat waves in peak summer periods has now threatened even the food security and rural livelihoods both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. While the preparations to roll out relief measures have been started immediately after the recent hailstorms and cloudbursts, the occurrence of yet another spell of hailstorms and cloudbursts cannot be ruled out till mid May this year as usual. Experiences in the recent years have shown that short term measures don’t mitigate the sufferings of the farming community and henceforth the roll out of long term measures is an unavoidable hard reality that deserves immediate attention and intervention of the Jammu & Kashmir Government.
“A strong response to the climate change in Jammu & Kashmir does not lie in adhoc measures but in a full-fledged climate resilient policy. For all practical purposes the climate resilience policy is focused on a road map for the future where institutions, infrastructure, economies, and people are protected against the risks of climate change. Under climate resilience policy certain Government Departments connected with the working of agriculture, horticulture and Irrigation & Flood Control can be asked to annually examine, identify, assess and predict risks related to extreme climate changes like floods, hailstorms and droughts.”
The best part of long term measures necessitate focus on promoting climate-resilient changes in the agriculture and horticulture sectors. Unfortunately modern irrigation techniques adopted in other states are union territories of the country prone to severe heatwaves in peak summer periods are only discussed but not introduced in Jammu & Kashmir despite the steep rise in the severity of heat waves in recent years across the Union Territory. In view of the increasing collateral damages caused to agriculture and horticulture sectors by the frequent waves of flashfloods and hailstorms besides heat waves in the mid summer periods the people can’t withstand the pressures of inaction hereafter. A strong response to the climate change in Jammu & Kashmir does not lie in adhoc measures but in a full-fledged climate resilient policy. For all practical purposes the climate resilience policy is focused on a road map for the future where institutions, infrastructure, economies, and people are protected against the risks of climate change. Under climate resilience policy certain Government Departments connected with the working of agriculture, horticulture and Irrigation & Flood Control can be asked to annually examine, identify, assess and predict risks related to extreme climate changes like floods, hailstorms and droughts. The recent wave of flashfloods, cloudbursts, and hailstorms is not just an unusual happening which won’t come again but it is a a warning for the future that necessitates roll out of a climate resilient policy for combating the realities of climate change in Jammu & Kashmir.
