An important project on climate change has been disrupted by the prevailing security scenario and communication shutdown across Kashmir, say scientists at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar. The project is part of the Himalayan Alpine Dynamics Research Initiative (HIMADRI), in which scientists have been studying for the past five year the alpine tree-line eco-tones to observe the impacts of climate change.

Kashmir has been under a communication clampdown since August 5, 2019 when the government of India took drastic steps to fundamentally alter the semi-autonomous status of Jammu & Kashmir. Though most of the telephone landlines have been restored some three weeks back, mobile phone and internet facilities are yet to be restored in the region. This has had a serious adverse impact on normal life. Research and education are among the worst-hit sectors.