Nainital: Comparing the melting of Himalayan permafrost to the loosening of Lord Shiva’s locks that once held the Ganga in check, climate author Mridula Ramesh has warned that rising temperatures are destabilising the mountains’ natural systems, increasing the risks of floods and water shortages.
Speaking at the just-concluded 11th edition of the “Himalayan Echoes”, a literature and arts festival, on Saturday, the award-winning author said the mythology of the Ganga’s descent offered a powerful analogy for the changes unfolding in the Himalayas.
According to the legend, Lord Shiva contained the river’s immense force in his matted locks before gradually releasing it through smaller streams.
“Think of the Ganga. She is headstrong. The one thing she doesn’t like is restraint. But the permafrost is melting, the analogy is, Shiva’s locks are loosened,” said the Madurai-based author, describing how rising temperatures were destabilising the Himalayan ecosystem.
Explaining the science behind the crisis, she said permafrost acts like cement, holding soil and rocks together in the high Himalayas.
As it thaws, mountain slopes become unstable, increasing the risk of landslides and glacier-related disasters.
For the unversed, permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years.
“Unfortunately, warming and intensification of rainfall is something we have to live with. And something we have to hope and plan for,” said Ramesh, founder of the Sundaram Climate Institute and winner of this year’s ‘Himalayan Echoes Nature Prize’.
Warmer air can hold more moisture, resulting in fewer rainy days but heavier rainfall when it occurs, she said, pointing to the growing pattern of floods followed by water shortages.
Snow, she said, is essentially natural water storage. Earlier melting means more water flows through rivers at the beginning of the year, leaving less for the summer months.
Turning to climate solutions, Ramesh argued that capitalism and market-driven innovation were essential to making the clean energy transition affordable and scalable.
“Without capitalism, you’ve lost the plot. If you don’t swap capitalism, you’ve lost the battle,” she said, citing India’s solar and LED revolutions as examples of how competition and technological innovation had driven down costs.
She gave the example of how electric cars, considered a pipe dream barely eight years ago, had become increasingly affordable.
“Look at solar. It’s become affordable,” she added.
Highlighting the commercial viability of renewable energy, Ramesh, an entrepreneur and angel investor in multiple cleantech startups, said her factory now runs on more than “90 per cent” of renewable power.
“That’s the only reason it makes sense. It doesn’t make sense for me to go and buy coal, thermal power today,” she said.
The two-day boutique literature festival, “Himalayan Echoes”, which focuses on both literature and nature, featured an eclectic list of speakers including best-selling author Amish, Bhutanese novelist Chador Wangmo, Swiss author Benjamin Viatte and mythologist Sunita Pant Bansal.
The festival came to a close on Saturday.
