Once a year, this Naga village turns into tiny wonderland

Climate Change a reality for Nagaland now

Reyivolü Rhakho
Kohima, Jan. 31 (EMN): Snowfall in the hilly state of Nagaland will rather seem a wild daydream, and it is most unlikely that snowfall—a phenomenon people of the region would normally associate with ‘foreign’ countries or a few places such as Kashmir and Uttarakhand—will occur anytime in Nagaland soon.

Yet, there are strange things at times especially if one will contextualise weather within the aspect of Climate Change. Why, “anytime anything can happen.”

But not surprising for the people of Viswema village, in the state’s capital district Kohima, is the snowfall they experience there. For most people who are not aware of this, it is in fact a yearly event that occurs between the month of January and February.

Vimezhol Theyo, president of the Southern Angami Public Organisation, confirmed to Eastern Mirror that snowfall occurs every year at Viswema. Theyo, who is from the village, said snowfall occurs depending on rain.

This year, it happened on the night of Jan. 30, as people in the village woke up to the sight of Mt. Tempü, the highest peak in Viswema, covered in snowfall, on Jan. 31, Theyo said.

Interestingly, he pointed to some rustic beliefs based on the intensity of snowfall there. ‘We (villagers) assume that heavy snowfall signifies good harvest of kharif (autumn) crops, such as, millets and maize.”

If there is no snowfall, it will indicate “extremely hot” weather throughout the year, Theyo explained. The snowfall marked the end of the cold season and the beginning of the warm season, he added.

Just before the arrival of snowfall, the people there experience ‘unusual cold winds coupled with thunder. Then finally comes the snowfall,’ he said. According to him, snowfall there is not a new thing. It had been happening since the time of the village’s forefathers.

The deputy director of Soil and Water Conservation department, Lochumi Venuh, said that the department has “very less parameter” to measuring the climatic condition. In fact there is “no instrument for measuring snowfall and we don’t keep a track of all these things,” she explained.

“Because of the Climate Change, it (weather) has become very unpredictable. Anytime anything can happen,” she remarked, in regard to the snowfall occurrence at Viswema village.

The experiences of “too cold and too hot” weather are all due to Climate Change, she said. Even temperature shoots up at some point of time and there are times when it gets more than cold, she added.

“If it is not mitigated on time, it will become worst in the future. We can expect more of these things to happen in future. There will be so much of variations and irregularities in the weather pattern,” Lochumi Venuh said.

“At the most what we can do is stop deforestation.” Because of this deforestation, the temperature is rising. On another level, ‘jhuming’ is contributing to the Climate Change by filling the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, the officer said. She suggested that plating trees and preserving forest can stop Global Warming to some extent.

The Nagaland State Action Plan on Climate Change (NSAPCC), in its 2012 version report noted that “the analysis of temperature records for Nagaland shows a steady warming trend in both the minimum and maximum temperatures over the past 100 years shows.”

Shifting climatic conditions
During mid century (2020-2050), Nagaland is projected to experience an increase in annual average temperature between 1.6°C and 1.8°C (Figure 10 a). Southern districts show higher increase in temperature, with Kohima, Wokha, Phek, Zunheboto, and Tuensang showing an increase in temperature between 1.7°C and 1.8°C. The northern districts of Mon and Mokokchung are projected to have an increase in average temperature of between 1.6°C and 1.7°C, the report stated.

The total annual rainfall in Nagaland within the same period is projected to increase state-wide. Kohima, Zunheboto, and Phek districts are likely to receive higher rainfall, while Wokha and Tuensang are projected to receive an increase in precipitation by 15 percent and 20 percent. Meanwhile, the Mon, and Mokokchung districts are projected to receive an increase in precipitation of between 10 percent and 20 percent, the NSAPCC noted.