‘Divided by borders united by the Himalayas’: A Cross regional Policy Paper on the ‘Third Pole effect’, focusing on the issue of Water Crisis and Climate change in South Asia

Abstract

Most of the countries in South Asia like Bangladesh,China, India and Pakistan derive their water sources from the Hindu Kush mountains. It holds the largest stretch of frozen water outside the polar territory for which it it’s referred to as the ‘Third Pole.’ There exists an imminent threat from both the climatic and ecological variations coupled with human activities.Signs of water stresses have been found in majority of the affected regions. More than a billion people are living and thriving off this geo-climatic zone which has therefore, become a region of man-made exploitation. If the predictions, in respect to, growth of population, latent demand for agricultural and energy resources along with climatic variations are not made accurately, the actual stress on the Hindu Kush Himalayas(HKH), can never be assessed correctly, and hence actions taken may not lead to the pre-set goals.