‘Continued dry spell may lead to adverse impacts’

FARZANA SYED. Dated: 2/13/2015 11:54:39 PM

SRINAGAR, Feb 13: The protracted dry weather conditions continue to persist in Kashmir valley though the core winter season is nearing its end. Given the prolonged dry spell the environmental experts have warned of inevitable adverse effects in valley.
Kashmir valley received very less snowfall during this winter season. Even the harshest winter period in valley Chllai Kallan could not fetch any respite from the dry weather.
“Appropriate amount of snowfall is certainly a requisite for Kashmir valley in many aspects particularly if we relate it to environment, agriculture, horticulture, health etc. We did not see any snowfall in plain areas during this winter season though it did snow on higher reaches but very less. When there is less or no snowfall it is definitely going to impact us in a number of ways,” Prof G A Bhat of environmental science department Kashmir University said.
He added, “Dry weather will adversely impact both the fauna and flora across the valley for which snowfall is essential. More importantly it is going to influence agriculture sector as it may hamper most of the agricultural activities especially growing of the crops.”
Dr Shakeel Ramshoo of the department of Earth Sciences Kashmir University has carried out few studies on intruding trends of global warming and climate change in the state of J&K. Dr Ramshoo is of the opinion that the variations in the climate including precipitation (snow and rain) for past several years are indications of climate change which can lead to various environmental hazards.
He said, “The primary impact of the continued dry spell is going to be on agriculture and horticulture sectors of our valley. Snowfall is necessary for the proper growth of crops and fruits. Moreover, 70 percent of our water reservoirs thrive on snow streams only. Snow streams form the major water sources in our state therefore snowfall is necessary for the water storage. Less snowfall is surely going to fetch water shortage during the summer season. All these changing trends are due to the impacts of climate change.”

 

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