KASHMIR GETS A CLIMATE SCARE

It’s a miracle Kashmir calls its own—the mysterious appearance every year in February of the Vasak Nag stream during the urs (festival) of Sufi saint Syed Noor Shah Wali Baghdadi in Kund village of Kulgam district.

- Kaleem Geelani

This precursor to the Vasak Nag’s six-month-long run from April to September every year—when it disappears again—is seen as the presage for a good year. This February, the Vasak Nag didn’t make an appearance. It was a bad omen, but not just in a symbolic way. The stream caters to the drinking water and irrigation needs of 13 villages. What it sparked is fears of an imminent water crisis, one that is emblematic of Jammu and Kashmir’s parched 2024-25 winter season. “I haven’t seen a situation like this. This is the punishment for our deeds,” says nonagenarian Abdul Mattoo, leaning on his walking stick.

The looming water crisis had Chief Minister Omar Abdullah worried too. “For upcoming summers, we need to prepare ourselves. Somewhere, we need to bring changes to our usage of water,” he said. Worried locals, however, sought refuge in tradition—special, open-air prayers were held across Kashmir to pray for rains. At last, in late February, their prayers were answered—there was a fresh spell of snow in the upper reaches of J&K and rain in the plains.