Between December 2023 to January 2024, many Kashmiri farmers along with religious leaders have been reported offering prayers to dispel a dry season from a long period of no snowfall. Like the rest of India, within the Valley, ice has been an important source of freshwater and even hydroelectricity for many people. For many people it also contributes to incomes across the region similar to states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand particularly in agriculture. Climate researchers have indicated that from the unique environment and also differences in agriculture between wealthier and industrial states, there is a disproportionate climate footprint between states.
Many also worry that due to these disconcerting comparisons, it can also affect other bodies of water. A notable example has been the Wular lake which has experienced environmental threats from climate change and from agricultural runoff caused by nearby farmers. Cases like the Wular lake, not only risk region wide disruption of water supply for civilians in the valley, but also affect water supplies downstream in the flatlands of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. This contributes to more ever present environmental damage with weakening conservation campaigns. In the modern era, there is a firm belief that India as a country should engage in rapid development through methods like industrialisation and tourism, which often comes at the price of damaging fragile environments and endangering surrounding communities. This has been a noticeable case not just in Kashmir, but also across the country with notable cases such as Hasdeo rainforest in Chhattisgarh where the promise of development threatens not just the environment, but also adivasi livelihoods. The most recent and severe example many academics have been commenting on has been the Andaman Nicobar islands.
In 2022, the Great Nicobar Island Development Project was announced to construct an entire city on the island of Great Nicobar. While mainstream narratives present the project as a supposed move for development of the Andaman Islands, the project has received petitions against its development both domestically and internationally towards figures like president Droupadi Murumu. Great Nicobar has not only been heeded for environmental destruction, but also threatening indigenous populations, such as the native Shompen, with extinction, which many scholars termed genocidal. The involvement of the city and the endangerment of environments not only threatens communities, but also for some people, fits the definition of settler colonialism mixed with environmental degradation. The placement of the city though hugely supported by companies, for many environmental and tribal activists the project didn’t make sense, where a fragile island is being chosen rather than existing cities like Port Blair.
The importance of environmental protection to rural and remote communities has an evident presence across India, and it is something national governments should pay heed to. While the prospects of development may seem attractive for many, the sheer negligence of such vital forms of flora can have devastating repercussions in the long run, that coupled with the implicit endeavours of marginalising citizens of poor and remote backgrounds is a recipe for catastrophe.
Comments