Tigers are roaming Kashmir as mega dams displace 20,000 people
Welcome to Climate Weekly!
This week, we’d like to introduce Raqib Hameed Naik, a courageous multimedia journalist based in Kashmir, who has been telling the story of climate change and mega-development at the edge of Modi’s nationalist expansion.
Salamalikum
I am Raqib, writing to you from a region knows for its mountains, beautiful valleys, and unfortunately, an unending conflict. These days Kashmir is the most militarized zone on the earth and is struggling to contain the spread of contagious Coronavirus with more than 114,407 cases and 1767 deaths.
But thanks to state-led infrastructure expansion, rampant deforestation has left tigers and bears without any place to find food. This has resulted in many violent attacks. Over the past five years, 65 people have died and 940 have been injured in animal attacks across Kashmir. I live in the main town in Doda district. On some nights, we have tigers taking a stroll in the residential areas. Would you like to come and visit??
This infrastructure expansion includes rampant construction of seven bumper to bumper dams within 50 miles of Jammu and Kashmir.
In my reporting, I met families who were among the 20,000 people impacted or displaced by these dams. Experts told me that the dams are a threat to the delicate ecology of the region, and could increase seismic activity in the region.
This photo is one I took of A girl holding a child at her house on a hill next to Baglihar Dam in Ramban district.
Since publishing of the story, many people are now worried about the scale of the projects, labeling them as part of India’s colonial quest to exploit Kashmir’s resources. We are already home to more than 34 dams. But most of the electricity produced by the dams is sent outside the region. With Kashmir heading into the snowy season, the frequent power cuts have come back to haunt the already struggling population.
Erratic rainfall due to climate change is also affecting Kashmir’s most important spice trade, saffron. During my early reporting trips, I still remember passing purple saffron fields near Srinagar district. The experience was always soothing. But recent reports suggest the farmers are suffering, as crop yields have dropped by nearly 65 percent in the last 20 years. This has affected thousands of families in Kashmir, especially women, who make up half of all of Kashmir’s saffron farmers.
If we go by a University of Kashmir study published this year in the journal Climatic Change, Kashmir is set for an astronomical temperatures rise of 7 degrees. That spells trouble for Kashmir’s most important spice, let alone our disappearing glaciers.
I remember, some 18 years ago, the average temperature during Summer in my home would hover around 30 to 35 degrees. It was hot, but you could manage just fine with fans alone. But now, the temperature touches 40 degrees and air conditioners have become a necessity.
While air conditioning is becoming critical, Kashmir has always felt like a never ending saga of problems. From unending conflict, 30 years of human rights abuses at the hands of Indian forces and now a forceful demographic change under Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, we have braved it all.
But since his government rescinded Kashmir’s special autonomy last August, I feel like they have ramped up their crack down on journalists, activists and environmental defenders. For my friends and family, the road ahead to fight climate change, seek accountability and challenge potentially disastrous infrastructure projects seems arduous, if not impossible.
Thank you though, for listening.
From Climate Tracker
To Watch: If you want to see more great African women cover climate change, check out this recorded webinar with 7 inspiring reporters trying to uncover what’s holding great journalists back.
To Read: Check out our Regional Report on how Southeast Asia’s media industry is covering their energy transformation - and it’s a mix of sorrow and hope.
Thought of the Week
This week, the city of Tokyo set a ban on sales of petrol-only cars by 2030, and a 2035 ban on petrol-only motorcycles. This puts the train-famous city amongst the most progressive in the world, as 2030 is beginning to look like the year the ‘Berlin wall’ might fall on gas-guzzling engines.
Already, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Paris, and Auckland have all announced similar timelines. Two weeks ago, the UK surprised many, when it announced a 2030 ban of its own. On paper, India also has a 2030 target (only if it’s “economical” though). California is not far behind at 2035.
However, as home to many of the world’s leading car manufacturers, this announcement from Tokyo’s Gov. Yuriko Koike takes on a significance of its own.
When a country such as Denmark, home to Vestas, the biggest wind company in the world, promotes renewable energy policies, it makes solid economic sense. Even when California announced their 2035 decarbonisation timeline, many guessed this would benefit its biggest car company, Tesla.
However, Germany’s car industry has been pushing against strict petrol and diesel regulations for years. While the country’s emissions have been falling for years, the transport sector refuses to budge, and hasn’t cut emissions at all since 1990.
For an economy built on the back of iconic brands like Toyota, Nissan, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi, Honda and Suzuki, the pressure against a petrol ban must have been fierce. While Toyota is now planning to integrate electric vehicle functions across the board by 2025, and Nissan wants to have 60% of its cars, run on electricity by 2023, the industry is so far behind the likes of Tesla, that Japanese battery giant Panasonic recently did an exclusive deal with the California car maker.
For that reason, Tokyo’s 2030 ban just clipped the $3 trillion global health bill due to air pollution, as my most interesting story of the week.
This is a weekly newsletter created by Climate Tracker.
If you have any questions, comments or want to get involved, email me at chris@climatetracker.org.