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The Star
a day ago
- General
- The Star
Climate change forces denizens of ancient Himalayan village to relocate
The Himalayan village of Samjung did not die in a day. Perched in a wind-carved valley in Nepal's Upper Mustang, more than 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) above sea level, the Buddhist village lived by slow, deliberate rhythms – herding yaks and sheep and harvesting barley under sheer ochre cliffs honeycombed with "sky caves' – 2,000-year-old chambers used for ancestral burials, meditation and shelter. Then the water dried up. Snow-capped mountains turned brown and barren as, year after year, snowfall declined. Springs and canals vanished and when it did rain, the water came all at once, flooding fields and melting away the mud homes. Families left one by one, leaving the skeletal remains of a community transformed by climate change: crumbling mud homes, cracked terraces and unkempt shrines. Villagers take a break while working in a field at the newly relocated settlement. The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain regions – stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar – hold more ice than anywhere else outside the Arctic and Antarctic. Their glaciers feed major rivers that support 240 million people in the mountains – and 1.65 billion more downstream. Such high-altitude areas are warming faster than lowlands. Glaciers are retreating and permafrost areas are thawing as snowfall becomes scarcer and more erratic, according to the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development or ICMOD. Kunga Gurung is among many in the high Himalayas already living through the irreversible effects of climate change. "We moved because there was no water. We need water to drink and to farm. But there is none there. Three streams, and all three dried up,' said Gurung, 54. A herd of sheep passes through an alley as they are taken for grazing near the hills. Climate change is quietly reshaping where people can live and work by disrupting farming, water access and weather patterns, said Neil Adger, a professor of human geography at the University of Exeter. In places like Mustang, that's making life harder, even if people don't always say climate change is why they moved. "On the everyday basis, the changing weather patterns... it's actually affecting the ability of people to live in particular places,' Adger said. Forced to move Around the globe, extreme weather due to climate change is forcing communities to move, whether it's powerful tropical storms in The Philippines and Honduras, drought in Somalia or forest fires in California. The abandoned village of Samjung, with ancient caves carved in the cliffs in the background. In the world's highest mountains, Samjung isn't the only community to have to start over, said Amina Maharjan, a migration specialist at ICMOD. Some villages move only short distances, but inevitably the key driver is lack of water. "The water scarcity is getting chronic,' she said. Retreating glaciers – rivers of ice shrinking back as the world warms – are the most tangible and direct evidence of climate change. Up to 80% of the glacier volume in the Hindu Kush and Himalayas could vanish in this century if greenhouse gas emissions aren't drastically cut, a 2023 report warned. A woman washes her hands in a river at the new area. It hasn't snowed in Upper Mustang for nearly three years, a dire blow for those living and farming in high-altitude villages. Snowfall traditionally sets the seasonal calendar, determining when crops of barley, buckwheat, and potatoes are planted and affecting the health of grazing livestock. "It is critically important," Maharjan said. For Samjung, the drought and mounting losses began around the turn of the century. Traditional mud homes built for a dry, cold mountain climate fell apart as monsoon rains grew more intense – a shift scientists link to climate change. The region's steep slopes and narrow valleys funnel water into flash floods that destroyed homes and farmland, triggering a wave of migration that began a decade ago. Villagers walk towards a field to plant apple trees in the new home. Access and support Moving a village – even one with fewer than 100 residents like Samjung – was no simple endeavour. They needed reliable access to water and nearby communities for support during disasters. Relocating closer to winding mountain roads would allow villagers to market their crops and benefit from growing tourism. Eventually, the king of Mustang, who still owns large tracts of land in the area nearly two decades after Nepal abolished its monarchy, provided suitable land for a new village. Pemba Gurung, 18, and her sister Toshi Lama Gurung, 22, don't remember much about the move from their old village. But they remember how hard it was to start over. A dried-up water tap is seen in the abandoned village of Samjung. Families spent years gathering materials to build new mud homes with bright tin roofs on the banks of the glacial Kali Gandaki river, nearly 15 kilometres away. They constructed shelters for livestock and canals to bring water to their homes. Only then could they move. Some villagers still herd sheep and yak, but life is a bit different in New Samjung, which is close to Lo Manthang, a medieval walled city cut off from the world until 1992, when foreigners were first allowed to visit. It's a hub for pilgrims and tourists who want to trek in the high mountains and explore its ancient Buddhist culture, so some villagers work in tourism. The sisters Pemba and Toshi are grateful not to have to spend hours fetching water every day. But they miss their old home. "It is the place of our origin. We wish to go back. But I don't think it will ever be possible,' said Toshi. – By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and NIRANJAN SHRESTHA/AP
News18
3 days ago
- Climate
- News18
Uttarkashi Is A Wake-Up Call: Experts Warn Climate Crisis Is Making Disasters Alarmingly Frequent
Last Updated: Rising temperatures, altered rainfall/snow patterns, glacier retreat, and permafrost thaw are intensifying disasters in the Himalayas As scientists investigate the cause of the sudden deluge in Kheer Ganga, they unanimously point to a clear trend—rising temperatures in higher altitudes, driven by global warming, are making extreme weather events in the Himalayas more frequent and severe—turning them into a dangerous 'new normal". The flash floods hit Dharali village at an altitude of 2,745 metres on Tuesday afternoon despite minimal but relentless rainfall over Uttarkashi, both in the days preceding the disaster and on the day itself, and have prompted experts to explore various possibilities—whether it was caused by a cloudburst in the upper reaches or a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). A cloudburst occurs when over 100 mm of rain falls within an hour in a small area. A GLOF happens when a high-altitude glacial lake is breached, often due to heavy rains, sending torrents of water downstream, triggering disastrous floods. Glacial lakes are forming rapidly with vast sheets of glaciers melting, accumulating the meltwater, but not all are actively monitored. 'It is hard to say definitely whether it was a cloudburst, an ice-rock avalanche, or a breached glacial lake in the upper valley," said Dr Farooq Azam, senior glacio-hydrologist currently at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). 'But what we do know with certainty is that temperatures are rising due to global warming, altering the historical rainfall and snowfall patterns, especially in the Himalayan landscape, which is extremely vulnerable." Scientists point to past incidents, such as in September 2018, when over 100 people were stranded in the Lahaul valley after unusually heavy rainfall—a time of the year when such downpours are rare. In neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, a cold desert region like Lahaul-Spiti is witnessing more cloudbursts, including in the rain-scarce Pin Valley. Short bursts of heavy rains are on the rise. 'This is the clear message—a series of disasters unfolding across the Himalayas with increasing frequency and intensity. Yet we fail to learn from these disasters and continue to build recklessly and without proper planning," added Dr Azam. Temperatures are rising faster than ever before As temperatures rise, glaciers are retreating rapidly, and studies show that over a thousand such glacial lakes have formed in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, with many expanding. But another growing concern is permafrost thawing, which can release trapped water and weaken mountain slopes, increasing the risk of floods and landslides. Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for years. As it thaws due to rising temperatures, melting ice creates loose soil and runoff, triggering slope instability and flash floods. Experts link both the 2023 Sikkim GLOF and the 2021 Chamoli disaster to such permafrost-related triggers, including ice avalanches and glacial lake collapses. 'The climate crisis is no longer a future threat, and it is intensifying extreme weather events. The fragile Himalayan ecosystem, already under immense pressure, is starting to give way. Temperatures in higher altitudes are rising faster than in the plains. In Uttarakhand, the mountain rocks have been weathered, and repeated freezing and thawing due to extreme temperature fluctuations is weakening them further, making the terrain more unstable," said Dr Kalachand Sain, former director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun. Future projections by Indian researchers published in the journal Atmosphere in 2022 showed further increases in maximum as well as minimum temperatures in Uttarakhand, with increased frequency of the monsoon's extreme rainfall events. The impact is projected to be more pronounced in the northern districts of Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Pithoragarh. The risk assessment done by the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre also ranked Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand as the most landslide-prone districts in India. Are we engineering our own disasters? 'A hazard becomes a disaster due to poor planning—settlements are repeatedly built in vulnerable zones, without proper environmental impact assessments or hazard maps. Dharali sits on the alluvial soil from past floods. Yet, the same mistakes keep happening. Even in Kedarnath, too, more settlements have come up," said Anand Sharma, senior meteorologist, known for predicting the heavy rain spell leading up to the 2013 Kedarnath disaster. Clearly, what was once seen as a freak occurrence is now alarmingly frequent. Yet, rampant construction, deforestation, and unchecked tourism continue to destabilise slopes, weaken riverbanks. 'The devastating loss in Uttarkashi must be our final wake-up call. With global warming supercharging the monsoons with short bursts of extreme rainfall, our own policies of cutting hills, unscientific, unsustainable, and reckless construction, and choking rivers for so-called 'development" are destroying our natural defences. Are we not engineering our own disasters? How long can we continue with reactive apologies after each preventable tragedy? We demand an immediate moratorium on all large-scale construction in these fragile Himalayan zones," said climate activist Harjeet Singh, founding director, Satat Sampada Climate Foundation. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : climate change Himalayas monsoon rain Uttarakhand Uttarkashi view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 07, 2025, 08:00 IST News india Uttarkashi Is A Wake-Up Call: Experts Warn Climate Crisis Is Making Disasters Alarmingly Frequent Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Chilling moment flash flood wipes out town leaving least 4 dead and 50 missing
Flash floods swept away homes and shops in northern India, killing at least four people and leaving many others trapped under debris. Floodwaters surged into a mountain village At least four people have been killed and over 50 others are feared missing after flash floods struck several homes and shops in northern India. Local television channels showed flood waters surging down a mountain and crashing into Dharali, a Himalayan mountain village in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state. The flood waters surged into homes, destroyed a local market and swept away roads. Around 'a dozen' hotels were washed away and several shops collapsed, according to administrative officer Prahsant Arya. Rescuers, police and the Indian army hae all been deployed to search for missing people. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue agencies were working 'on a war footing '. 'We are doing everything possible to save lives and provide relief,' he said in a statement. It comes after a girl, 3, was found dead on beach by a horrified passer-by. India's National Disaster Management Authority said it had requested three helicopters from the federal government to assist in the rescue and relief operations as rescuers struggled to access the remote terrain. Officials have not provided a figure for those trapped or missing. India's weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the region in the coming days. Authorities have asked schools to remain closed in several districts, including Dehradun and Haridwar cities. Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan region prone to flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions. Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly due to climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions. Over 6,000 people died and 4,500 villages were affected when a similar cloudburst devastated Uttarakhand state in 2013. The flooding in northern India is the latest in a series of disasters that have battered the Himalayan mountains, which span across five countries, in the last few months. Flooding and landslides as a result of heavy rains and glaciers melting due to high temperatures have killed over 300 people in Pakistan, reported the country's disaster agency. In 2024 alone, there were 167 disasters in Asia, including storms, floods, heat waves and earthquakes, which was the most of any continent, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain, Belgium. These led to losses of the equivalent of over £24 billion, the researchers found. A 2023 report by Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates across the Hindu Kush and Himalayan Mountain ranges. The study found that at least 200 of the more than 2,000 glacial lakes in the region are at risk of overflowing, which can cause catastrophic damage downstream.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Climate
- Euronews
At least four killed in flash floods in northern India, officials say
At least four people have been killed and several others are trapped under debris after flash floods swept away several homes and shops in northern India, officials said on Tuesday. Local television channels showed flood waters surging down a mountain and crashing into Dharali, a Himalayan mountain village in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state. The flood waters inundated homes, swept away roads and destroyed a local market. "About a dozen hotels have been washed away and several shops have collapsed," said Prashant Arya, an administrative officer, adding that rescuers, including the Indian army and police, were searching for the missing. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue agencies were working "on a war footing." "We are doing everything possible to save lives and provide relief," he said in a statement. India's National Disaster Management Authority said it had requested three helicopters from the federal government to assist in the rescue and relief operations as rescuers struggled to access the remote terrain. Officials have not provided a figure for those trapped or missing. India's weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the region in the coming days. Authorities have asked schools to remain closed in several districts, including Dehradun and Haridwar cities. Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan region prone to flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions. Over 6,000 people died and 4,500 villages were affected when a similar cloudburst devastated Uttarakhand state in 2013. The impact of climate change Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly due to climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions. The flooding in northern India is the latest in a series of disasters that have battered the Himalayan mountains, which span across five countries, in the last few months. Flooding and landslides as a result of heavy rains and glaciers melting due to high temperatures have killed over 300 people in Pakistan, reported the country's disaster agency. In 2024 alone, there were 167 disasters in Asia, including storms, floods, heat waves and earthquakes, the most of any continent, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain in Belgium. These led to losses of over $32 billion (€27 billion), researchers found. A 2023 report by the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates across the Hindu Kush and Himalayan Mountain ranges. The study found that at least 200 of the more than 2,000 glacial lakes in the region are at risk of overflowing, which can cause catastrophic damage downstream.
North Wales Chronicle
5 days ago
- Climate
- North Wales Chronicle
Four killed and dozens trapped under debris as flash floods hit northern India
Local television channels showed floodwaters surging down a mountain and crashing into Dharali, a Himalayan mountain village in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state. The floodwaters inundated homes, swept away roads and destroyed a local market. 'About a dozen hotels have been washed away and several shops have collapsed,' said Prashant Arya, an administrative officer, adding that rescuers, including the Indian army and police, were searching for the missing. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue agencies were working 'on a war footing'. 'We are doing everything possible to save lives and provide relief,' he said in a statement. India's National Disaster Management Authority said it had requested three helicopters from the federal government to assist in the rescue and relief operations as rescuers struggled to access the remote terrain. Officials have not provided a figure for those trapped or missing. India's weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the region in the coming days. Authorities have asked schools to remain closed in several districts, including Dehradun and Haridwar cities. Sudden intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan region prone to flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, affecting thousands of people in the mountainous regions. More than 6,000 people died and 4,500 villages were affected when a similar cloudburst devastated Uttarakhand state in 2013. Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions. The flooding in northern India is the latest in a series of disasters that have battered the Himalayan mountains, which span across five countries, in the last few months. Flooding and landslides as a result of heavy rains and glaciers melting thanks to high temperatures have killed more than 300 people in Pakistan, reported the country's disaster agency. In 2024 alone, there were 167 disasters in Asia – including storms, floods, heat waves and earthquakes – which was the most of any continent, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain, Belgium. These led to losses of over 32 billion dollars (£24 billion), the researchers found. A 2023 report by Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates across the Hindu Kush and Himalayan Mountain ranges. The study found that at least 200 of the more than 2,000 glacial lakes in the region are at risk of overflowing, which can cause catastrophic damage downstream.
