Srinagar- As winter tightens its grip on Kashmir, a familiar practice in the Valley's orchards is turning into a public health emergency. The annual burning of pruned branches and leaves to produce charcoal for kangris has filled large parts of Kashmir with thick, lingering smoke, triggering a surge in respiratory distress.

Heavy grey smoke hangs low over neighbourhoods, slipping into homes and settling in the lungs of those already struggling to breathe. What orchardists consider an essential winter routine has become a major seasonal pollutant.

For people like Mohammad Akbar Ganaie, a COPD patient from Shopian, each day has become a battle for breath.“My chest feels tight whenever the smoke enters my home,” he said.

“These past weeks have been unbearable. I'm thinking of moving to Jammu until the air improves.”

Ganaie is not alone. As temperatures fall, hospitals across the Valley see a rise in patients with COPD, asthma and other chronic respiratory problems - a pattern doctors say is now firmly linked to Kashmir's winter air.

Dr Ghulam Hassan Khan, a specialist in chest diseases, said COPD cases in the region have been rising at an alarming rate.“During winter, a significant share of emergency admissions involves COPD and asthma patients,” he said.“Smoking remains the biggest cause, but we're increasingly seeing non-smokers develop the disease as well.”

The doctor attributes this shift to worsening air quality. Biomass burning in orchards, charcoal used in kangris, domestic smoke, and emissions from small industrial clusters collectively form a deadly winter mix.“There are days when Kashmir's air quality index is worse than several major metros,” he noted.

A 2018 study titled Winter Burst of Pristine Kashmir Valley Air jointly conducted by a team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the University of Kashmir, shows that pollution in Srinagar hits dangerous levels during winter months as the air carries five times more tiny particulate matter (PM2.5) than the permissible limit.

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