(21 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Achabal, Indian-controlled Kashmir – 17 February 2025
1. Various of dried-up fountains at Achabal spring
2. SOUNDBITE (Kashmiri) Saja Begum, visitor:
“Oh the Prophet, let the spring’s water gush as it has in the past. This world is dependent on water. Let the spring flow with water again. I will pray here. I have come to see this holy spring but alas, there is no water here.”
3. Wide of dried-up Achabal garden
4. Various of locals trying to clear stones from spring for water to flow
5. SOUNDBITE (Kashmiri) Saja Begum, visitor:
"Let it overflow with water, let it overflow with water, oh holy spring where have you gone? Overflow with water, may this get filled with lots of water."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Achabal, Indian-controlled Kashmir – 21 February 2025
6. Various of fountains at Achabal spring, now flowing with water once again
STORYLINE:
For days, people in the Himalayan region of Kashmir watched in agony as a famed ancient spring ran dry amid extreme dry weather conditions.
It was the first time in living memory that the spring water had vanished.
While the spring returned to life on Friday, replenished by fresh rain and snowfall, the region’s people are now discussing something they had long feared — that climate change and changing weather patterns could soon take a toll on the water bodies that nurture Kashmir’s famed orchards and vast agricultural fields.
Multiple springs and streams — including tributaries of the region’s main Jhelum River that cuts through the Kashmir Valley — have dried in Indian-controlled Kashmir, causing water shortages in recent weeks across the region known for its Himalayan peaks and pristine lakes.
The concern was highlighted by an Associated Press video that went viral on social media this week showing an elderly woman praying and crying her heart out in front of the ancient spring in southern Kashmir’s Achabal town.
The spring, inside a famed garden built by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s wife in the 17th century, is a source of drinking water for 20 villages in the area.
"Oh holy spring where have you gone?,” 80-year-old Saja Begum was seen howling in the video.
"Overflow with water, may this get filled with lots of water."
The video stirred emotions across Kashmir, where many residents are relying on government-provided water tankers.
Weather officials say the region has witnessed over 80% rain and snow deficit since the beginning of this year.
Most of Kashmir’s plains have received little snow while the upper reaches saw less than usual.
For over a month now, daytime temperatures have been between 5 to 8 degrees Celsius above the norm.
Authorities have launched an investigation into what caused the spring waters to vanish, according to local online news outlet The Kashmiriyat, quoting officials.
The crisis has forced officials to temporarily cancel national winter games held every year in the famed tourist resort of Gulmarg that boasts Asia’s largest ski area.
Thousands of domestic and international tourists typically visit to ski and sledge its stunning snowscape in winter.
Experts say the weather shifts in Kashmir are linked to broader climate change and global warming.
Weather monitoring agencies say Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, surpassing the previous record set in 2023, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold.
It’s the first time in recorded history that the planet was above a hoped-for limit to warming for an entire year.
AP video shot by Hilal Ahmed Shah
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