00:00Kashmir's crystal-clear lakes and rugged pristine beauty have drawn nature-loving tourists from home and abroad for decades.
00:11But even here in the north, air pollution is a growing problem.
00:16With a population of just under 2 million, Srinagar made it onto the World Health Organization's list of the 10 most polluted cities in the world in 2018.
00:29The data for this survey was collected by a team led by environmental scientist Arshith Jahangir from the University of Kashmir.
00:38He explains the causes of the poor air quality up here.
00:43The most contribution is from biomass burning because in winter particularly we use biomass for space heating as well as cooking and we have most of the rural areas used still fuel for cooking purposes and space heating.
00:58According to the scientist, air quality has deteriorated significantly over the past 10 years.
01:05The reason? The increase in road traffic.
01:09More than 1.6 million vehicles are registered in Kashmir.
01:13In 2008, there were not even half as many. One in five households up here owns a car.
01:21High vehicular density in Kashmir has resulted in high emissions of air pollution.
01:27Particularly we can see carbonaceous aerosols, black carbon or elemental carbon as well as organic carbon.
01:34We have seen the black carbon concentration is among the highest in the Himalayan states as compared to the other sites.
01:42Even the once white snow-capped peaks are grey from all the carbon deposits.
01:48This soot causes the glacier surface to absorb more of the sun's rays.
01:53As a result, the glaciers are melting faster.
01:57The air up here has long been a health problem.
02:00Here at the Lung Clinic, Dr. Navid Nazir Shah tells us that the number of cases has soared over the past decade due to the high levels of air pollution.
02:13And there are other problems too.
02:16Number one, I would say lower respiratory and upper respiratory tract infections.
02:20Then you have lung cancer which is quite prevalent and this is growing day by day.
02:25And then you have COPD patients. The incidence is very high.
02:30Even the data supports it that I think Kashmir is at second place over the whole country with regard to the prevalence of COPD.
02:39But things are slowly changing in Srinagar.
02:44More than 100 electric buses now operate here.
02:47Almost silent and emission free.
02:50They run on 16 different routes.
02:5229 year old Farhan Shalla now has an electric car and uses public transport too.
03:01She wants to do her bit.
03:03Born in Delhi, she is deeply concerned about how the air and climate in Kashmir have changed in recent years.
03:12The only reason I actually left Delhi was because of the pollution there.
03:16The temperature during summers, it goes to 48-50 degrees.
03:20And I decided I wanted to move to a place which is better for my family, for myself.
03:27But for the past 1-2 years, I have also seen the same problem in Kashmir.
03:32The temperatures are rising.
03:34We have a requirement of ACs even in Kashmir today.
03:37Environmental scientist Arshid Jahangir sees enormous potential in public transportation.
03:43However, it urgently needs to be expanded.
03:47That will lead to more use of public transport instead of private vehicles.
03:51And that will lead to reduction of the pollutants.
03:53We have observed that almost presently when we see that people are willing to basically shift to public transport system.
04:02And there will be almost reduction of 10% pollutants, various air quality pollutants from the Kashmir Valley.
04:10Salman Malla is part of the local public transport system with his electric rickshaw.
04:16The family man drove a gasoline-powered vehicle for 10 years before switching to electricity.
04:23For him, the change has brought nothing but advantages.
04:27The smoke and exhaust fumes gave me allergies and the stench was awful.
04:31Since switching to this e-rickshaw, I feel so much better.
04:35The other vehicle often malfunctioned.
04:37The clutch cable and accelerator cable often broke and I had to fix it myself.
04:43My hands were always dirty.
04:44I was always tired.
04:46Everything is easier with this battery-powered rickshaw.
04:50Salman Malla is one of very few e-rickshaw drivers here.
04:55There just isn't the infrastructure, like charging stations for example.
05:00However, the electric bus fleet is set to grow this year by 100 vehicles, enabling even more people to switch to electric transport.
05:12In the long term, this could help reduce pollution in the region.
05:16The other vehicle is to be with this telephone.
05:17The lift is full of water, and the wall is flowing.
05:18The very bottom of the roof.
05:19The hot light is starting to get the symptoms.
05:20It's a class of local heating.
05:21I can see the energy for the other vehicle.
05:22The north will be in the region to get a bit more blue.
05:23This is a flash drive.
05:24This has turned into a harmonic drive to the region.
05:25This has turned into a Sandy-powered rickshaw, but it's not too much new.
05:26This is a hard drive to try to repair the traffic.
05:27This is a small drive in the air.
05:28And this will be at the station to wear a lot of gear.
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