Environmental conditions worsen in Chitral – By: Prof. Rahmat Karim Baig
This summer the Hindu Kush region saw a very bad change in its environmental situation. The long sunny months this summer melted the glaciers more ruthlessly than the previous year. The volume of the rivers did not subside and carried down boulders and silted the river channels causing overflow of the river into the crop lands and carried away countless trees from the banks of the rivers. The loss of the trees means it damaged the economy of the villagers.
The inhabitants of the valleys of the Hindu Kush region saw a great change in the fluctuation of the temperature. It affected the crops of wheat, barley, fruits, vegetables and other items of agriculture. The irrigation system using the tiny springs suffered as the water decreased to zero. Crops dried before ripening and the villagers had no option except to sell their livestock but the government functionaries kept silent and nothing was done for the affected farmers. Due to climate change the habitats of the wildlife have also suffered. Predators like hyenas, bears and wolfs have moved into distant valleys in larger number and eaten up dozens of cattle and this is also a big loss for the farmer as a normal size cow is sold in 150 thousand Rupees and a goat is sold at 50 thousand but predators have caused damages to livestock in the summer grazing grounds.
The glaciers in the distant high altitude valleys and snow fields melted in accelerating speed and the glaciers retreated many kilo meters backward. There were dry clouds from time to time but no rains so the vegetation dried up before maturity. The winds that used to drive the clouds in summer disappeared and the cycle changed completely. All this has brought misery to the inhabitants of the region along side the high prices of essential commodities in the markets. Their purchasing power had dropped and there were negligible govt. projects for ordinary labrours. The situation is getting grim and may lead to famine in the distant parts or the border regions of the country in the North of Pakistan. The inhabitants know nothing about any preventive measures and they had little experience of this type of disaster. The NGOs working in Chitral did not take measures to help the affectees and did not bother to collect data of the losses sustained by the inhabitants of Chitral.
