It is late December and India’s north has not yet received much winter rain, or snowfall in the mountains. This is being attributed by some experts to a ‘shift’ in the climatic pattern, suggesting thereby that the precipitation has been pushed towards January, mostly February. That period is when traditionally the second round of winter rains used to take place. Also, going by what has been witnessed in recent years, this phase has become more intense and limited to a shorter period of time. As such, a number of catastrophic events have repeatedly occurred.
The impact this is having on agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, and other traditional patterns of commerce is already obvious. As has been the case throughout history, human beings have to adjust accordingly to survive; in extreme cases through migration. However, science and technology, change in sowing cycles and types of crops, have also helped overcome the challenges. Much depends on the choices and way of life people select. It must not be forgotten that the climate change is being attributed to human activity stretching from the industrial revolution to the presently continuing exploitation of natural resources.
In Uttarakhand, where the effort is being made to boost ‘reverse migration’, changes in weather patterns will increase the challenge. Till such time global warming and suchlike disruptive phenomena are mitigated, it will be difficult to anticipate and deal with the changes. However, the effort must be made at, both, the macro and micro levels. Even the increase in human-wildlife conflict is being stated to have been caused by change in weather patterns, as animal behaviour has been impacted. Just as local communities will have to deal with animals in their immediate environment under the changing circumstances, they will have to adapt their own ways of life to be able to cope. Government policies must be shaped to help in the process, which can only be done by careful and continuous scrutiny of the transformation.
This is not going to be easy as much of the change and subsequent learning is yet to happen. Till then emphasis should be placed on strengthening the infrastructure and stricter enforcement of regulations. Weather prediction must also be upgraded and localised as much as possible. It must not be forgotten that there are many gains to be had if this challenging period is successfully overcome.
