The Bakkarwals in Kashmir and Changpas in Ladakh Himalayas rear sheep, goats and cattle in the upper reaches of the mountains. The Bakkarwals are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Kashmir Himalayas after Kashmiris, Gujjars and Dogras. Numbering around half a million, they migrate to different alpine pastures across the Himalayas. While their hardships were limited to long treks in the past, the nomadic pastoralists say that in recent years, they have been compounded.

“Flash-floods, landslides, cloud-bursts and windstorms are killing our community members and livestock like never before,” complained Bakkarwal Ijaz Choudhary.  “We do not have proper tents to protect ourselves and our livestock from extreme weather events like hailstorms, cloudbursts and torrential rains. Often, our family members and livestock fall sick following intense rainfall or hailstorm.” According to Ijaz Choudhary, hundreds of Bakkarwal families lost their large herds of sheep and goats when flash floods caught them unaware in the past ten years.