Global warming could do worse damage to J&K than in Uttarakhand, say experts

By 2030, average temperatures could rise by one to 4.5 degrees Celsius in the Himalayan region

Global warming, coupled by unplanned construction boom and industrial layout, could spell doom “worse than that of Uttarakhand” for the ecologically fragile Jammu and Kashmir, experts have warned at a recent meeting of the Environment Committee (EC) of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council.

Quoting the year 2010 projections conducted by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), Director of Environment and Remote Sensing Suresh Chug told the Upper House committee last week that the Himalayan region could experience increase of one degree Celsius to 4.5 degree Celsius in its average maximum temperature by 2030.

Average rainfall days could increase by five to 10 a year and the average rainfall could rise by one to two mm per day, Mr. Chug said.

Senior officials from the departments of Forest, Wildlife Protection, State Pollution Control Board and Lake and Waterways Development Authority (LAWWDA) participated in the meeting.

No updated environment policy:

Sources told The Hindu that the experts expressed concern over the absence of an “updated environment policy” in the wake of the fresh global warming alerts. It was pointed out that being a critical part of the Himalayan region, the State could be enormously affected due to global warming, haphazard construction boom and unauthorised industrial layout.

Notwithstanding the alarming situation recorded by the ECs of the State’s Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly since 1996, as also a host of PILs pending with the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the rot of unauthorised constructions and industrial growth has remained intact in the State.

 Over a dozen cement plants of big business houses have come up in an agriculture bowl which has Dachhigam National Park — the habitat of the endangered deer specie hangul — on one side and the famous saffron fields on the other side, in Khrew area, close to the city. Over 200 unauthorised brick kilns have come up in Budgam, Pulwama and Anantnag districts as both politicians and officials refuse to acknowledge the ecological vandalism. Both are known to be the beneficiaries of favours from the entrepreneurs.

Action plans to be submitted:

In the next EC meeting on July 17, officials of different departments would be submitting their draft action plans. The LAWWDA draft plan would focus on the measures to be adopted for preserving the Dal Lake. The Department of Wildlife Protection would concentrate on the massive alluvial deposits in the Haigam Wetland by Balkol and Ningli streams.

Mr. Chug told The Hindu that his department was finalising its draft action plan in close coordination with scientists and experts from the Bhubaneswar-based Complete Transformation. He explained that unplanned constructions, which blocked the course of the natural avalanches and abnormal melting of glaciers, were the main reasons of the recent flash flood in Uttarakhand.

Agriculture and forests, Mr. Chug said, had the highest risk in Jammu and Kashmir. “We have 98 forest grids out of which 56 per cent could be affected by the global warming. INCCA projections speak of severe drought, flash floods and failure of forest regeneration,” he said.

Over 200 unauthorised brick kilns have come up in Budgam, Pulwama and Anantnag districts