DEHRADUN: Climate change is reshaping Uttarakhand's fragile Himalayan landscape by reducing farm productivity, drying up natural springs and accelerating migration from mountain villages, according to studies by Professor Vishwambhar Prasad Sati of Mizoram University.
The studies found that more than 20% of the rural population in the Uttarakhand Himalaya has migrated in search of better employment, education and basic services. Falling agricultural and horticultural productivity has further increased economic distress.
Government data show Uttarakhand has more than 1,700 officially recorded "ghost villages" with no permanent residents. Figures compiled by the State's Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission and other official agencies place the number of fully abandoned villages between 1,768 and 1,792. The variation is due to differences in reporting periods and classification.
The 2011 Census recorded 1,048 uninhabited villages. Another 734 villages were abandoned over the following decade, taking the total to about 1,782.
Speaking to TNIE, Professor Sati said the abandonment of farmland had disrupted the region's traditional water recharge system.
“Due to the abandonment of agricultural land, natural springs, which traditionally served as the primary sources of drinking water, are drying up rapidly,” he said.
“As arable land has increasingly turned barren, surface runoff has risen considerably, reducing the infiltration of rainwater into the ground. Consequently, groundwater recharge has declined, leading to acute water scarcity in many parts of the Himalaya,” he added.
The studies also found that several traditional crop varieties have disappeared, while others are nearing extinction. Some crops are shifting to higher elevations because of rising temperatures.
"Citrus fruits, once grown widely between 800 and 1,200 metres, have nearly disappeared from these belts. Apple cultivation too has become unviable in several parts of Uttarakhand where it earlier thrived," Prof. S.P. Sati said.
Traditional crops, particularly millets, have also recorded a sharp decline.
A separate study by Prof. Sati found pine trees are increasingly replacing mixed-oak forests as river valleys and middle-altitude regions become warmer. The study said this indicates a gradual shift of temperate zones into subtropical landscapes, posing risks to biodiversity and ecological stability.
His research also found that thin snow cover in Uttarakhand has declined by nearly 36% over the past three decades, while thick snow cover is even more vulnerable to climate change.
The study found snow loss has been most significant in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi valleys and linked it to rising temperatures and increasing human activity, including the growing influx of pilgrims to high-altitude destinations. It also noted that glaciers across the Himalayan region are retreating rapidly.