Cold desert and pouring rain
by S.P. Sharma
THE new phenomenon of incessant rains in the cold desert stretching between Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir and Lahaul-Spiti of the neighboring Himachal Pradesh is worrying residents of these areas.
Heavy rains and cloud-bursts have triggered floods in Ladakh and caused widespread damage to buildings and crops. Many lives have also been lost. Residents of the cold desert have never before seen so much rain. These areas had, so far, mostly remained dry and the people were dependant on the water sources fed by the glaciers.
An elderly Tsring Dorje, resident of the Nubra valley near Leh, said that rain was a rare sight in the area, "but now we have had enough of it." He attributed the unprecedented phenomenon to the cold desert being converted into greenery. He blamed the desert development programme for the change in climatic conditions of the area.
Dorje said that the traditional clay houses in Ladakh will not withstand the rains and now the people will have to go in for cement structures. Floods have washed away several houses, roads and bridges in the Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh.
The clay houses in Lahaul-Spiti area were also threatened due to rains. Monks in the Tabo Monastery, which is more than 1000 years old, were worried that the wall paintings were getting damaged due to seepage of rain water. The Archaeological Survey of India was taking special measures to protect these paintings from further damage.
Mr. P. Namgial, a former MP and a sitting MLC, said that never before had he seen continuous rain for about one week in Ladakh. Cloud-bursts, like those in Himachal Pradesh, were a new phenomenon here.
Much damage has also been caused due to climatic variations that have led to melting of the high altitude glaciers. The only two power projects Stakna and Marchelang in Leh, have been badly damaged due to flash-floods.
Mr. Namgial said that Ladakh used to register a below freezing temperature of -30 degrees c during winters till the past few years, but now the temperature during the peak winter hovers around -18 degrees c.
He said that the snow line of the Stok glacier just opposite the Leh town has receded upwards and many smaller glaciers have vanished. The situation has become alarming with the Gompa locality within the Leh town littered with boulders that were carried by a flash flood. All bridges and culverts in the nearby Phyang village have been washed away.
Mr.Pinto Nurboo, a MLA and hotelier, attributed the change in the climate of the cold desert to the global warming.
Pilots of the army and IAF point out that a number of artificial lakes have developed on the mountain tops in the far-flung areas due to melting of glaciers. The Shyok river that crosses through Ladakh and later joins the Indus, was overflowing this summer mainly because of melting of the Chong Kamdan, Gasherbrum and Nubra glaciers. Scientific data points out that almost all 335 glaciers in the Sutlej, Beas and Spiti basins were receding.
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