Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
India

World's 'Highest' Village In Spiti Valley Runs Dry As Global Warming Hits The Himalayas

Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Aug, 2017 01:29 PM
    With a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas stretched out across a vibrant blue sky, it is hard to dispute the sign as you enter Komik that declares it to be the world's highest village with a road.
     
     
    Others also boast the title — from Nepal's Dho Tarap to Bolivia's Santa Barbara. But at 4,587 metre (15,050 ft), this remote Buddhist hamlet near India's border with Tibet is no doubt among the planet's topmost motorable human settlements.
     
     
    Yet despite its coveted status, life is harsh for the 130 residents of Komik, a quaint collection of whitewashed mud-and-stone houses located in the desolate Spiti Valley.
     
     
    The region is a cold trans-Himalayan desert cut off from the rest of India for six months of the year when snowfall blocks mountain passes. Phone and internet connectivity is almost non-existent. Schools and clinics are a tough trek away.
     
     
    But Spiti's some 12,000 inhabitants, who eke out a living farming green peas and barley, have a much bigger concern: their main sources of water — streams, rivers, ponds — are drying up.
     
     
    "We are used to being in a remote place. We have our traditional ways of living," said farmer Nawang Phunchok, 32, as he sat tying bundles of a prickly desert bush together to insulate the local monastery's roof.
     
     
    "But these days the water is not coming like it used to. The seasons are changing. We see there is less water than before." There is little doubt India is facing a water crisis.
     
     
    Decades of over-extraction of ground water, wasteful and inefficient irrigation practices, pollution of surface water like lakes and rivers, and erratic weather patterns attributed to climate change, have left many parts of the country thirsty.
     
     
    But while government, charities and media increasingly focus on the drought-stricken farmers in the plains, their Himalayan counterparts — ironically living in a region often called the "Water Towers of Asia" — also need help, say conservationists.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Indian, Indian-American Plead Guilty In Call Centre Scam

    An Indian national and an Indian-American man pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy behind their roles in a massive telephone impersonation and money laundering fraud in the US perpetrated by India-based call centres.

    Indian, Indian-American Plead Guilty In Call Centre Scam

    Wheelchair-Bound Delhi Woman Lashes Out At Uber On Facebook After Humiliation

    Wheelchair-Bound Delhi Woman Lashes Out At Uber On Facebook After Humiliation
    Uber tells it has a 'zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind,' adding they're reviewing the matter 'internally.'

    Wheelchair-Bound Delhi Woman Lashes Out At Uber On Facebook After Humiliation

    PICS: Virender Sehwag Admires Roger Federer's Love For Cows

    PICS: Virender Sehwag Admires Roger Federer's Love For Cows
    Federer, on Sunday, won a record eighth Wimbledon title and became the tournament's oldest champion with a straight-sets victory over injury-hit Marin Cilic.

    PICS: Virender Sehwag Admires Roger Federer's Love For Cows

    Our Jails As Good As Yours, Vijay Mallya Will Be Fine, India Tells UK

    Our Jails As Good As Yours, Vijay Mallya Will Be Fine, India Tells UK
    Union Home Ministry recently told Maharashtra government to improve the conditions of its Arthur Road jail where Mr Mallya would be sent if he is extradited from the United Kingdom

    Our Jails As Good As Yours, Vijay Mallya Will Be Fine, India Tells UK

    Kotkhai Rape: 6 Men Were Arrested For Gang-Raping Himachal Teen; Today, One Was Killed

    Kotkhai Rape: 6 Men Were Arrested For Gang-Raping Himachal Teen; Today, One Was Killed
    HC asks CBI to set up SIT headed by SP-rank officer to probe the case

    Kotkhai Rape: 6 Men Were Arrested For Gang-Raping Himachal Teen; Today, One Was Killed

    1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: HC Notice To Sajjan Kumar On Plea To Cancel Anticipatory Bail

    The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the response of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on a plea seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to him by the trial court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

    1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: HC Notice To Sajjan Kumar On Plea To Cancel Anticipatory Bail