SEEDS catalysts of change in the face of high-altitude climate calamities

In Leh, a city situated in the mountainous region of Ladakh in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, SEEDS, an NGO specialising in disaster risk reduction and recovery, witnesses the changes happening at multiple levels in relation to the development of tourism-related businesses leading to a rapid urbanisation, a breakdown in the traditional value system and an abandonment of the longstanding ecological approach and indigenous wisdom, reports AlertNet.

Overcrowding and encroachment on water channels, fast depletion of glaciers and snow cover, erratic water supply, warmer temperatures and severe flash floods left an extremely resilient community vulnerable and helpless in the face of climate changes, which is why SEED considers the integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) into local development planning as an imperative step in its 17-month action research project. The project activities will include coalition building, agenda setting and piloting of village level integrated CCA and DRR programmes.