Famed for Himalayan peaks and pristine lakes, Kashmir faces a water crisis amid dry weather.
For days, people in the Himalayan region of Kashmir watched in agony as a famed ancient spring ran dry amid extreme dry weather conditions. It was the first time in living memory that the spring water had vanished.
While the spring returned to life on Friday, replenished by fresh rain and snowfall, the locals are now discussing something they had long feared — that climate change and changing weather patterns could soon take a toll on Kashmir’s bodies of water that nurture its famed orchards and vast agricultural fields.
Multiple springs and streams — including tributaries of the region’s main Jhelum River that cuts through the Kashmir Valley — have dried in Indian-controlled Kashmir, causing water shortages in recent weeks across the region known for its Himalayan peaks and pristine lakes.
