Wed, Sep 06, 2023 page7

• India hosts ‘climate cup’ in Ladakh

  • AP, SRINAGAR, India
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  The players dribble and run like in any other soccer game, but within a minute or two, some stop to huff and puff, before pushing themselves on in an unusual challenge high in India’s remote and mountainous desert region of Ladakh.

  It is the first of its kind “climate-friendly” soccer tournament in the ecologically fragile territory where oxygen is thin and breathing is hard. When the wind picks up, usually in the afternoons, it brings sand and dust that cover the high-altitude stadium’s synthetic turf.

  The organizers say the ongoing “climate cup” in Leh is the first in Asia held at an altitude of more than 3,350m and with a minimum carbon footprint. Four teams are participating in the matches, held on alternate days.

  

  A player scores a goal during a match of the “climate cup” on the outskirts of Leh, India, yesterday.

  Photo: AP

  Before the tournament, the players took at least two days to acclimatize to the altitude.

  Still, they cannot play with the same intensity as on lower altitudes, organizers said.

  In Leh, only a handful of posters and banners promote the matches. The organizers have relied heavily on social media to popularize the games, which are also streamed live on YouTube.

  Electric buses are used to take players to and from the matches, and all plastic is prohibited at the stadium. Players have been given multiuse aluminum sippers. Water is from a local spring and dispensers have been placed on dugouts.

  The tournament is “our attempt to use sports for spreading awareness about the perils of climate change in Ladakh,” local administrator Tashi Gyalson said.

  Spectators have been encouraged to bring in their own nonplastic water bottles. No chips or soft drinks are provided and the players are served only traditional, organic Ladakhi food and locally grown fruit.

  “Using a climate-friendly soccer tournament is a humble beginning. We are determined to fight climate change [in Ladakh] at multiple levels,” Gyalson said.

  Nestled between India, Pakistan and China, the region is known for its inhospitable yet pristine highland passes and vast river valleys. In the past, it was an important part of the Silk Road trade route.

  In more recent times, Ladakh has faced territorial disputes and the stark effects of climate change. Its sparsely populated villages have been hit by shifting weather patterns that have altered people’s lives through floods, landslides, droughts and migrations.

  Ladakh’s thousands of glaciers, which helped dub the rugged region one of the “water towers of the world,” are receding at an alarming rate, threatening the water supply of millions of people.

  The melting has been exacerbated by an increase in local pollution that has worsened due to the region’s militarization, further intensified by a military standoff between India and China since 2020.

  With 300-plus days of sunshine a year, Ladakh gets only about 100mm of rainfall annually, mainly in winter. In July, the number soared to 42.8mm of rainfall in just one month — the highest in three decades.

  “Recent trends are showing clear changes in climate patterns,” India Meteorological Department meteorologist Mukhtar Ahmed said.

  Local officials say the soccer matches were organized keeping in mind some of these climate concerns.

  “The entire DNA of the tournament is very organic,” said Shamim Meraj, who advised the local administration on organizing the tournament.

  “You are thirsty, you go to the dispenser and refill your bottle, or drink like a schoolboy from the tap,” he said. “You are hungry, you go grab some fruit.”
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