00:00Let me now take you from Gujarat to Jammu Kashmir.
00:04What has unfolded in Jammu Kashmir in the past few days is very interesting.
00:09One of the big hill stations or tourist destinations is climate change impacting our hill regions too.
00:15Kashmir Valley is reporting a heat wave and how this time?
00:19At this year is Amarnath Yatra which began on the 3rd of July under tied security arrangements.
00:24Devotees are reporting that shivling appears to be smaller than ever in 2025.
00:27Is global warming to blame or something else?
00:31The naturally formed ice shivling of Baba Barfani, an iconic symbol of Lord Shiva, appears to be melting faster than ever before.
00:38India Today's reporter, my colleague Jitendra Bahadur Singh, is currently on the yatra.
00:42He undertook the yatra with the first batch of pilgrims and noticed a comparison, a stark contrast, compared to previous visits in 2018 and 2022.
00:51Back then the shivling stood tall at nearly 12 to 15 feet.
00:54This year, he says, only about one and a half to two foot formation was visible and that appeared to start to melt already to a certain extent.
01:04Now there is intense heat even in Kashmir Valley where people actually throng because it is a cold station.
01:11Particularly around Srinagar where situation appears to be worsening with the melting of snow and ice.
01:16Dust clouds have been reported from the yatra.
01:18According to weather experts and local officials, rising temperature, lack of snowfall in recent years have significantly reduced ice retention across the years.
01:28Nevertheless, amid all of this, remember, because the cave of course still stands, the shivling still stands,
01:33the excitement and enthusiasm for the pilgrims is still high.
01:36Batches of pilgrims with a chanting of Harar Mahadev and Bambam Bhole are heading and are on the trek toward the Amarnath cave.
01:45Let's sleep.
01:48Father, please bejenny.
02:03What do you think of the window is no longer?
02:04Then we have to run away.
