The study of three villages of Upper Mustang - Samzong, Yara and Dheya - carried out over the period of the last one year shows that the gradual loss of availability of water in their localities is the main reason for people opting for resettlement. Eighteen, 13 and 15 households respectively in the aforementioned villages are in the process of leaving their areas, according to the report. [break]
But the places they are moving to as a better option are simply not free of risk from possible glacial lake outbursts, warns the study undertaken by the Swiss NGO Kam For Sud and the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland in collaboration with the Lo Mustang Foundation, warns.
Shared with media persons on Friday, the report titled, “Moving down or not? A key question for Samzong, Yara and Dheye, -- three villages in Upper Mustang, Mustang District, Nepal”, further remarked that the consequences of climate change in Upper Mustang could be understood through studies done in Ladhak in India as the two regions have plenty of similarities. “Ladhaki farmers have always been dependent on snow and glacier melt water, but the climate change experienced in the last 4 decades poses a threat for the future,” the report relates.
The Samzong Valey in Uppor Mustang (PHOTO COURTESY: MANUEL BAUER)
Explaining the matter further, one of the research members and author of the report Professor Giovanni Kappenberger said that the impact of climate change on people, ecosystems and species is bound to further increase in the vulnerable Upper Mustang as climate change advances. And the study should serve as a milestone in highlighting the issue and reviewing adaptation scenarios, not only for these three villages but for the region as a whole, he stressed.
According to the report, climate change in Upper Mustang is inviting increase in precipitation tendencies, generally rising temperatures during all seasons, more dust transport and deposition, stronger evaporation and sublimation, stronger daily winds, less reflection of snow and ice but more and faster melting of the glaciers and drying up of underground water, among other impact.
“The people in the villages are basically farmers. When they don´t get water to drink, let alone for their crops, what would they do other than seek resettlement,” said Dr Ghana Shyam Gurung, conservation director at World Wildlife Fund, Nepal. “The study has shown that there is high risk of glacier outbursts in Upper Mustang, and how can we say that the people are moving to safer areas?”
Gurung added that the government needed to carry out independent studies on climate change and people and do the needful for their safety. “However, the government has no time for all this,” he commented, adding that the people in the villages actually started to move away to nearby areas since over a few months back. “The people need massive support in order to get to safe areas where they can continue their farming for a living,” he added.
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