Kashmir's hand-woven Pashmina shawls, which are made of the warmest and the softest wool in the world, may soon become a rarity following the mass deaths of Ladakh's Changthangi goats caused by the recent heavy snowfall and damage of pastures as a result of the invasion of locusts.
According to Chering Dorjey, head of the local Hill Council of Leh, Ladakh, at least 15,000 to 20,000 newly-born goats are estimated to have perished in the catastrophe that fell on Changthang in December-January, the abode of tribesmen who rear Changthangi goats.
"Since it was the time when the pregnant ewes usually deliver their babies - most of which died - this is likely to have a devastating and long-term impact on the production of Pashmina in India," he said. According to the Jammu and Kashmir government's estimates, the annual Pashmina shawl trade in the state is worth Rs 500 crore ($124 billion), and more than 50,000 people live off it.
The Changthang plateau, spread across Ladakh and Tibet at an altitude of 5,000 metres, is home to the bulk of the world's Pashmina production. Though Chinese Pashmina, which is woven into fabric with the help of powerlooms and has thus cornered over 70 per cent of the world's 20,000 tonnes trade, the hand-woven
Kashmiri Pashmina still remains a popular brand in the international fashion market. Dorjey, who led a team of officials to survey the affected area, said the animals had died due to acute scarcity of fodder and the authorities' "inability" to provide food supplies after snowfall blocked the access roads. The team from Ladakh Autonomous Hill Developmental Council (LAHDC), Leh, is still unable to map the tragedy as some of the Changthang villages remain snowbound even today.
This phenomenon has left the population of surviving Pashmina goats with a skewed sex ratio with more males than females. "This is a serious situation for the trade," the interim report of the LAHDC says.
According to the report, the unchecked invasion of locusts from Tibet for the past three years have damaged the pastures where the Pashmina goats are reared. The locals, mostly practising Buddhists, had refused to spray insecticides for one year to check the locusts. "Later they agreed but the insecticide was unable to deter the army of locusts that completely destroyed the western Changhtang pasture," Dorjey said.
India, Nepal and China have been traditionally producing Pashmina. However, with China opting for the scientific raring of Capra Hreus - the Pashmina goat - at the state-run large farms in Changthang across the Indian part, countries like New Zealand and Australia have also flooded the fashion markets with Pashmina shawls, scarves and stoles.
Ghulam Qadir, a Pashmina shawl seller in Srinagar, told Business Standard that although Kashmir's Pashmina retains its purity and fine quality across the world, the prospects for the trade looked bleak with the markets being flooded with machine-made fabrics from other countries.
"The Indian brand needs marketing and upgrade," he said.
