In October 2025, Joginder Chand, a 50-year-old shepherd from Udyol village in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, set out on what should have been a routine migration. With a herd of 600 sheep and goats, and accompanied by four other shepherds, Chand was returning from the high ranges in Chamba to the lower (and warmer) grazing grounds in Kangra district, travelling across the Jarol Jot pass—a route familiar and used by generations before him. But the mountain did not behave as expected. An avalanche suddenly swept away more than 100 animals. In a pastoral economy where livestock is the only currency, the loss was devastating.
Chand belongs to the Gaddi community, spread mostly in Chamba and Kangra. Gaddi shepherds move up and down the Himalayas round the year in search of fresh grass and optimal weather. They usually move uphill in April-May (when the snow starts melting); traverse the higher ranges (like the Dhauldhar and Pir Panjal) from June to August to reach al-pine meadows in Lahul, Spiti and Pangi; and return to lower altitudes in September-October (before the winter snow sets in). Speaking to Down to Earth (DTE), Chand recalls how the five men took shelter in a mountain den, where they remained stranded for seven days, surviving on a small reserve of roasted corn.
What happened at Jarol Jot is not an isolated event. Avalanche data from 1970 to 2016 shows that about 8 per cent of the western Himalayan region (where Chamba is located) has become “highly susceptible to avalanches”, says a study published in Nature in 2025. On September 27 this year, 2,000 sheep and goats were buried under snow near the Rupin pass in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. Media reports say …
This article was originally published in the October 16-31, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth