The Himalayas: A Landscape of Glacial Retreat and Shifting Water Availability

For over 500 million people that rely on the Ganges River in India, the retreating Himalayan glaciers signal a coming crisis of water insecurity. If current predictions hold true, the river will lose its glacial source and become seasonal by mid-century. Compounding the potential impacts of melting glaciers due to rising global temperatures, the river’s health is threatened by localized development projects. Along the first 110 km stretch of a primary tributary, the Bhagirathi, a series of controversial dams are set for construction in a fragile area of frequent landslides, road collapses, and seismic activity. Beyond the physical costs of ecological degradation and increased water scarcity, the river’s decline will have far-reaching social implications, as the Ganges is a revered entity of symbolic, cultural, and religious significance. Investigating aspects of resilience, this paper looks at resource management challenges and environmental activism downstream from the river’s glacial source. Drawing on ethnographic research, examples document the ways that people—particularly women—perceive, express, and mobilize around concerns for the river. The paper demonstrates: the varied ways that people are responding to ecological challenges with socio-cultural implications; the importance of gender inclusion in the management and conservation of river water resources; and dynamics of human resilience in an increasingly water insecure area