KAREWAS

KAREWAS

TOPIC: Environment

Context- Kashmir’s highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called ‘karewas’ are being destroyed in the name of development, much to the peril of local people.

Concept-

About Karewas:

• The Kashmir valley is an oval-shaped basin, 140 km long and 40 km wide, trending in the NW–SE direction.
• It is an intermountain valley fill, comprising of unconsolidated gravel and mud.
• A succession of plateaus is present above the Plains of Jhelum and its tributaries. These plateau-like terraces are called ‘Karewas’ or ‘Vudr’ in the local language.
  • Despite continuous erosion since millions of years, more than half of the valley is still occupied by the Karewa.
• Karewas are lacustrine deposits (deposits in lake) in the Valley of Kashmir and in Bhadarwah Valley of the Jammu Division.
• The karewas is about 1400 m thick deposits of alluvial soil and sediments like sandstone and mudstone.
• This makes them ideal for cultivation of saffron, almonds, apples and several other cash crops.
• Kashmir saffron, which received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2020 for its longer and thicker stigmas, deep-red colour, high aroma and bitter flavour, is grown on these karewas.
• Karewas were formed during the Pleistocene Period (1 million years ago), when the entire Valley of Kashmir was under water.
• Due to the rise of Pirpanjal, the drainage was impounded and a lake of about 5000 sq. km area was developed and thus a basin was formed.
• Subsequently, the lake was drained through Bramulla gorge. The deposits left in the process are known as karewas.