Kargil is battling climate change
Kargil, located about 215 km from Leh, the capital of the Union Territory of Ladakh, has an arid and cold climate. Due to the region being located in the northwestern part of the Himalayas, the summer monsoon is very little or non-existent. The region remains mostly dry during the summer season, while the months of November to March record heavy snowfall due to the dominance of western disturbances.
According to a study, there are about 252 small and big glaciers in Kargil’s Suru Valley, whose total area was 481 sq km in 2017. The estimated 50,000 people of the Suru Valley use spring water or snow and glacier water for drinking, while agriculture is mainly dependent on snow and glacial rivers.
But like other parts of the Himalayas, the impact of climate change is beginning to be felt here. Between 1971 and 2017, the glaciers of the Suru Valley have lost 32 sq km of icefields. Just as Dharali and Tharali in Uttarakhand witnessed heavy devastation on August 5 and August 21 respectively due to excessive rainfall caused by climate change, the Suru Valley in Kargil recorded two adverse weather events, the first being floods due to excessive rainfall and heavy snowfall two weeks later.
Flooding of Khawos-Namasuru nullah
At around 4.30 pm on the evening of August 12, 2025, an incident of flooding was recorded in the Khawos-Namsuru nullah (drain). The bridge connecting Khawos-Namasuru was destroyed by a huge number of boulders and silt debris and this debris washed away a large portion of the two- metre-high wooden pedestrian suspension bridge over the Suru river.
There was no loss of life or property due to the flooding incident occurring during the day. But many kanals of wheat fields were destroyed, along with two bridges.
Boulders about three to four metres high as well as mud and sand were deposited on both sides of the nullah just before its confluence with the Suru river. The nullah is being cleared by the local administration.
The cause of the flooding in the Khawos-Namsuru nullah is not yet clear. But excessive rainfall can be considered as the primary one. It is pertinent to mention that the nullah flows from a glacial valley and a lake is also seen in the satellite images of Google Earth.
At the time of the incident, five researchers who had come to survey the glacier near Panikhar village of the Suru Valley, three kilometres from Namasuru, were recording the clouds seen above the nullah on their mobile phones. One of them, B Shravan Kumar, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, said the clouds were black and had a high moisture holding capacity.
The author tried to see the flooded drain around 7 pm but was unable to go beyond Namasuru village due to rescue operations. Interviews with several people in Namasuru village revealed that incidents of flooding in the nullah have happened in the past as well.
Shaukat Ali Zildar, a primary school teacher in the village, said the Khawos-Namasuru drain flooded on July 26, 2021, and July 27, 2022, causing more damage than the incident of August 12, 2025.
He added that eight houses of Khawos village, along with cattle, were also washed away in the last flood. Haji Ali of Namasuru village demanded that the administration survey the course of the nullah from the glacier, so that the people of the village are aware of the danger. He also emphasised that the administration should issue orders not to carry out any kind of construction by marking the debris of past floods.
14 days later
Just 14 days later, an unprecedented event took place.
The Suru Valley of Kargil is covered with snow in the winter season from November to March. Western disturbances originating from the Mediterranean Sea are the main source of snowfall in the region. But this year, it is only on August 26 that the Suru Valley is witnessing heavy snowfall, which is unusual.
The snowfall started on the morning of August 26 and continued intermittently till late night in the vicinity of Panikhar village in the valley. By 7 pm, more than 15 cm of rain was recorded in Panikhar village.
However, snowfall started on the evening of August 25 in Pencila, which connects the Suru Valley to the Zanskar Valley. According to published research papers and satellite images, snowfall in the valley is recorded in the month of October. But such heavy snow in the month of August at an altitude of 2,500-3,000 metres is surprising.
Shamim and Ghiyasuddin, residents of Panikhar village, said on August 26, the first Suru Summer Festival was organized by the Ladakh Tourism Department at Thulus on the other side of Panikhar village, in which Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju participated to promote adventure and and tourism in the valley. Adventure sports like river rafting and kayaking could not be done due to the heavy snowfall.
Aditya Mishra is a project scientist at IIT Madras doing research in Kargil.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth