Kashmir snow crisis raises fears of upcoming water woes

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir -- Surrounded by the majestic Pir Panjal mountains, Kashmir's town of Gulmarg is famous for skiing and snowboarding. This season, however, it has not been the winter wonderland visitors expect -- a state of affairs that tourism-dependent locals fear is a climate-change-induced sign of things to come.

Places that normally get up to 2.5 meters of snow as early as November had mere centimeters, or not even that, in early January. Instead of receiving the crowds that usually arrive around the Christmas holidays, resorts have been receiving booking cancellations. Even a late-season snowfall, if it comes, may not be enough to undo the damage.