Fardeen Mohammad Bhat
Kashmir’s Himalayan cradle is cracking under climate pressure. The signs are evident: floods in Jammu have displaced Gujjar nomads, while Shopian’s apple belts and Pampore’s saffron croplands parch under erratic weather. Snow-scarce winters starve our rivers of summer melt. CPI(M) MLA M. Yusuf Tarigami, Kulgam’s representative and head of the legislative environment committee, has called for a dedicated climate budget for Jammu & Kashmir—distinct from scattered general allocations. Without it, we will continue chasing disasters instead of preventing them.
Tarigami’s case, pressed in discussions with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and in assembly debates, draws on J&K’s official designation as an “ecologically fragile” region. Climate funds must not bleed into routine expenditure when glacier retreat and landslide surges demand focused action. Modelled on Himachal Pradesh, such a budget could finance glacier monitoring, climate-resilient seeds for farmers, forest restoration, and early warning systems—helping avert losses like those seen in Kishtwar’s cloudburst tragedies.
Threats to Livelihoods and Landscape
The Chenab and Jhelum are weakening as glaciers—providing 40% of our water—melt at twice the global rate. Summer glacial outbursts trigger floods; winters bring drought-like conditions. Jammu’s 2025 deluges devastated crops and connectivity, hitting Gujjars and Bakerwals hardest—grazing lands submerged, herds wiped out.
Agriculture, which sustains nearly 60% of the population, is among the first casualties. Shopian’s apples face inadequate chilling, affecting quality, while Pampore’s saffron yield has dropped by 30% due to erratic rainfall. Dal Lake continues to recede, weakening tourism. The Baglihar hydel project falters, contributing to power shortages. Development-driven deforestation further destabilises slopes, turning cloudbursts deadly despite warnings. By 2050, glacier erosion of up to 25% could recreate disasters on the scale of the 2014 floods, which claimed over 500 lives and caused losses of Rs 15,000 crore.
Tarigami’s Actionable Vision
A longstanding CPI(M) leader and advocate for workers and disaster-hit communities, Tarigami has visited affected sites and repeatedly flagged administrative gaps. General budgets dilute climate priorities, he argues—unlike targeted interventions such as Himachal’s dam safety investments or Kerala’s coastal defences. He proposes ringfencing 5–10% of the annual budget for climate action: monitoring landslide-prone zones, expanding polyhouses to shield crops from hail, satellite-based glacier surveillance, and panchayat-level training. The aim is to protect vulnerable farmers and herders while preventing distress migration to urban slums.
Economic and Policy Imperative
Imagine reinforced Jhelum embankments, Sonamarg climate data feeding into mobile alerts, resilient paddy seed banks, and large-scale reforestation generating local employment. Uttarakhand has reduced disaster fatalities by 40% through similar preventive strategies. Prevention cuts relief costs, safeguards 90% of hydel power capacity, boosts farm productivity by up to 20%, and revitalises eco-tourism.
Ladakh and Delhi are already advancing climate budgeting frameworks. J&K’s risks make such planning even more urgent, while transparent mechanisms could attract global climate financing. Critics call it an expensive proposition—but in reality, it is essential risk management, subject to public audit.
Act Now, or Pay Later
Landslides continue to gnaw at the Srinagar-Jammu highway. Fields remain scarred by recurring shocks. Drawing on frontline experience, Tarigami’s message to the secretariat, the assembly, and the Centre is clear: embed climate budgeting in the next financial plan.
A climate budget is not an expense—it is survival.
