Of the 1.49 million , Gujjar-Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir, many still undertake seasonal migrations between Jammu’s plains and Kashmir’s high-altitude meadows. Women, who manage households and herds during these grueling journeys, contribute almost nothing to carbon emissions yet bear the brunt of climate change: erratic heat waves, unpredictable snowfall, and resource scarcity. Their struggles extend beyond physical hardship into a silent mental health crisis largely absent from policy discussions.

PEER KI GALI, Jammu and Kashmir—It was a breezy, sunny noon at Peer Ki Gali, a mountain pass in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas, connecting the Poonch and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir. As the sun and clouds played hide and seek, 20-year-old Asima Chaudhary, a Gujjar-Bakarwal herder, a nomadic community known for rearing sheep and goats across the mountains, watched her flock grazing on the slope. Her dhoka, a stone-and-mud shelter, was a 20-minute walk away through steep, uneven terrain.

PEER KI GALI, Jammu and Kashmir—It was a breezy, sunny noon at Peer Ki Gali, a mountain pass in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas, connecting the Poonch and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir. As the sun and clouds played hide and seek, 20-year-old Asima Chaudhary, a Gujjar-Bakarwal herder, a nomadic community known for rearing sheep and goats across the mountains, watched her flock grazing on the slope. Her dhoka, a stone-and-mud shelter, was a 20-minute walk away through steep, uneven terrain.

Of the 1.49 million, Gujjar-Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir, many still undertake seasonal migrations between Jammu’s plains and Kashmir’s high-altitude meadows. Women, who manage households and herds during these grueling journeys, contribute almost nothing to carbon emissions yet bear the brunt of climate change: erratic heat waves, unpredictable snowfall, and resource scarcity.