By Naveed Qazi, Sustainability Analyst
Over the years, research in Kashmir valley suggests that glaciers are receding at an accelerated rate. The research paper titled ‘Glacial-geomorphic study of the Thajwas Glacier Valley, Kashmir Himalayas, India,’ published by Elsevier, and authored by Reyaz Ahmad Dar, Omar Jaan, Khalid Omar Murtaza, and Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, present critical findings regarding the region's climate history and landscape evolution. The study shows that the Thajwas glacier has experienced significant recession from its maximum extent during the last glacial period due to climate warming. Also, the study has revealed indications of small deposits of glacial debris left behind when the glacier temporarily paused during retreat, by mapping major erosional and depositional glacial landforms. The scholars concluded that the glacier is responding to regional climatic fluctuations.
The findings also argue that Kashmir valley's distinctive U-shaped profile, bowl shaped mountain basins, broad glacial valleys, ridges of glacial debris, and channels carved by melting ice demonstrate that glaciers, historically, have been a very dominant force sculpting the local landscape. Furthermore, the current scenery is largely a product of repeated glacial erosion and deposition during the Late Quaternary, the most recent ice age period.
Since the Last Glacial Maximum, the Thajwas glacier has lost roughly sixty four percent of its area and seventy three percent of its volume moving into the neoglaciation stage, as per the journal Geoscience Frontiers. Importantly, the research noted that quantitative records of past glaciations remain limited across the Himalaya, especially in Kashmir, making the research on the subject vital for understanding long-term climatic changes in the region.
Incisively, research regarding Thajwas has shown a stark reality. Experts have also warned in the reportage by Ground Report India that over-tourism is straining the fragile ecosystem, exceeding the area’s carrying capacity and accelerating environmental degradation around the glacier. Dr. Reyaz Qureshi, Professor of Tourism Studies at the University of Kashmir has echoed the same argument.
Another reportage in Ground Report, January 2026, has also revealed that the track to Thajwas is often littered with plastic bottles and food packaging. At the glacier’s entry, makeshift shops sell bottled water, packaged snacks, cigarettes, and rental equipment for walking on snow. Hundreds of mules also congregate at camping sites, thereby creating knee-deep accumulations of animal waste that visitors must navigate, pointing towards environmental distress. Hence, effective litter management is a need of the hour by the administration.
Locals also revealed that glacier’s diminishing contribution to the nearby river system threatens water security for millions of people downstream. The locals also depend on this water for drinking, for cattle, and for irrigation through streams which seem to be drying up. As water levels receded and canals dried up, some locals told him that they were forced to dig borewells.
Locals also revealed that glacier’s diminishing contribution to the nearby river system threatens water security for millions of people downstream. The locals also depend on this water for drinking, for cattle, and for irrigation through streams which seem to be drying up. As water levels receded and canals dried up, some locals told him that they were forced to dig borewells.
Similarly, in a study published in the International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, ‘122 Glaciers Shrinking in JK's Pir Panjal Range,’ by faculty at NIT Srinagar, including Mohammad Ashraf Ganai and Syed Qaiser Bukhari revealed that glacier cover shrank drastically from 25.7 km to 15.9 km with south-facing glaciers experiencing significantly more severe melting compared to north-facing ones.
Specifically, when it comes to Machoi, a glacier situated near Zoji La, it is showing rapid retreat under a warming climate. A study done by Irfan Ali Rashid, and colleagues, published in Science of the Total Environment, revealed findings that Machoi glacier has lost size from 1972 to 2019, to twenty nine percent. In another interview report done by Ground Report India, Irfan Ali Rashid also suggested investigations for factors like black carbon coming from transport, domestic heating, brick kilns, and biomass burning, as well as from dust deposition, and changes in precipitation patterns.
Thajwas and Machoi are not alone in its retreat. The larger Kolahoi glacier in Anantnag district, which feeds major tributaries of the Jhelum River, has also retreated dramatically, shrinking from 11 square kilometres to just 2.63 square kilometres over the past three decades.
European scientists have also raised alarms about Kashmir’s glaciers. A 2023 study at the University of Oslo led by Andreas Kaab, published in Nature, found that glaciers in the Kashmir Himalayas are retreating faster than in many other parts of the Hindu Kush–Himalaya region.
In ‘Snow Resources and Climatic Variability in Jammu and Kashmir, India’ authored by Aaqib Ashraf Bhat and his peers, in Climate 2025, argued that if current trends continue, Thajwas glacier could disappear within 20 years under current climate trends, threatening local water supplies and regional ecosystems.
Glacier retreat in the Kashmir Himalaya is reshaping river flows, with initial increases in discharge giving way to long-term declines as ice reserves diminish. Nepal's flash flooding in August 2026, happened due to glacial melting, gives a stark reminder, to the neighbouring regions, of the consequences of an ecological imbalance.
Shakil Ahmad Romshoo and colleagues postulated in the Journal of Hydrology, 2023, that mass loss in the Kolahoi Glacier is closely tied to reduced streamflow, threatening irrigation, drinking water, hydropower, and ecosystems.
In the broader Upper Indus Basin, Romshoo’s team in Scientific Reports, 2022, found that rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns are accelerating glacier retreat, raising concerns about sustainability.
To address these risks, scholars including Anil V. Kulkarni, Walter W. Immerzeel, and researchers associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development recommend sustained glacier monitoring through satellite and field studies, hydrological tracking of glacier-fed catchments, and expansion of high-altitude meteorological stations.
Likewise, Veerabhadran Ramanathan argues that reducing black carbon emissions should form an integral part of regional adaptation strategies. Collectively, these measures are considered essential to safeguard long-term water security and livelihoods in the Kashmir Valley and downstream regions.
Comments
Post a Comment