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ABSTRACT
Climate knowledge production and climate change adaptation are dominated by technocratic narratives. Where climate change intersects with institutional structures outside contexts of formal interventions, these narratives also have crucial implications for the recognition of climate change-affected citizens. This article focuses on the experience of farmers in the Indian Himalayas who are seeking support from the state following a climate change-induced drought. We suggest that the narrow technocratic framework produces climate vulnerability by preventing Himalayan farmers from accessing relevant drought support. The recognition of climate change-affected citizens, we maintain, is a question of climate justice and requires consideration for alternative methodologies and different epistemologies about climate change.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for insightful feedback from two anonymous reviewers and the JPS editorial team, which greatly improved this article. We are indebted to our interlocutors in Zanskar and Ladakh who shared their time with us and made this study possible. Any errors are our responsibility alone.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 To preserve anonymity, we used pseudonyms throughout the article.
2 Conversation with Sonam Lotus, Director of India Meteorological Department, Jammu & Kashmir on August 20, 2020.
3 For the first time, during the winter of 2022, the road between Padum and Kargil remained passable throughout the winter, both because of a dry winter, and improvements to the condition of the road. Since 2019, a new road connects the region to the state of Himachal Pradesh to the south and since 2021 another road connects the region to Leh, to the north. Both roads are however open from summer to early autumn only.
4 The trip between Padum and Leh used to take seven days. Depending on the weather conditions and the state of the road network, the journey is sometimes shorter today, with progress on the section of the Zanskar road linking Padum to Leh.
5 The region of Zanskar shares no contiguous borders with China and Pakistan, unlike the Leh District of Ladakh. The provision of infrastructure in Zanskar contrasts with the situation of Leh District, which has seen important development projects since the independence of India, in part due to its geostrategic location.
6 The National Commission on Agriculture in India recognizes three types of droughts: (1) meteorological drought (or a situation in which there is a reduction in rainfall for a specific period below a specific amount), (2) hydrological drought (which involves a reduction in water resources, for example, lake levels or underground aquifers) below a specified level for a given period of time, and (3) agricultural drought, which is the impact, on crop yield, of meteorological/hydrological drought.
7 The manual recognizes that ‘there is substantial variance in the quality of drought monitoring and the methodology and parameters adopted in the declaration of drought among States’ (Government of India Citation2016b, 31). The girdawari system (also known, in other States, as the annewari or paisewari system) has led to a lack of uniform drought classification. See SANDRP (Citation2016). In a historical precedent, in 2016, the Supreme Court of India recognized the failure of several states to declare drought and ordered revisions to the procedure for drought declaration. See Swaraj Abhiyan – (I) v. Union of India & Ors.: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/19199787/ (accessed on November 7, 2023).
8 Officially this is the proper channel, but in extreme cases of calamities, cognizance could be taken by the administration suo motu.
9 Indeed, communalism is an enduring narrative in Zanskar, one often mentioned to explain limited development and access to resources in the region. Many Zanskarpas believe that the district’s lack of interest in developing the region is proof of a lack of political will, if not a systematic marginalization based on identity politics: some farmers felt that once more, the needs of inhabitants of Zanskar, which has a Buddhist majority, but which administratively falls under a Muslim majority district, were not taken seriously. On communalism in Zanskar, see Deboos (Citation2023) and Gutschow (Citation2006).
10 Rainfall is considered the most important index. Besides rainfall-related indices, this includes remote sensing-based vegetation indices, crop situation-related indices, and hydrological indices. These indices are looked at in combination with rainfall (Government of India Citation2016b).
11 This normally consists of a report prepared by the District Commissioners of the concerned districts.
12 The Divisional Commissioner further submits the report to the Financial Commissioner, and then the General administration. Finally, the Department of Disaster Management Relief Rehabilitation and Reconstruction consolidates the material submitted by the administrative departments, and this is submitted to the State Executive Committee so that funds are allocated. The State Executive Committee approves the amount that is going to be placed at the disposal of the Financial Commissioner, the Divisional Commissioners, and each Deputy Commissioner so that expenses related to declared natural calamities are met. These administrative measures align with the period when Ladakh was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, coinciding with the occurrence of the drought in 2018.
13 See Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Disaster Management Division (Citation2015).
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Notes on contributors
Karine Gagné
Karine Gagné is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. Her research work is based in the Indian Himalayas, where she studies a range of issues, including climate change, ethics of care, human-animal relations, state production, citizenship, and climate knowledge. She is the author of Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas, published by University of Washington Press.
Stanzin Chostak
Stanzin Chostak, is an Assistant Professor at the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi where he teaches Environmental Law, Public International Law, Law of torts and Criminology. His PhD thesis, “Impact of Climate Change on Mountain and Downstream Communities” is a socio-legal study that focuses on the case of Ladakh. Prior to joining Delhi University, he has worked at the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi.