Karewas

Why in news?

• Kashmir’s highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called ‘karewas’ are being destroyed in the name of development.

More about the news:

• Despite its agricultural and archaeological importance, karewas are now being excavated to be used in construction.
• The most recent violation took place in December 6, 2021, when the excavation of karewas around Pattan village were used for the construction of the Srinagar ring road.

About Karewas:

• Karewa formation has a link with the Kashmir Himalayas. these are lacustrine deposits of Pleistocene age (1 million years ago).
• In the Kashmiri dialect, the term Karewa means “elevated table land”. Firstly, this term was used by Godwin Austin in 1859 and later on by Lydekker in 1878 for unconsolidated to semi-consolidated sand clay conglomerate sequence.
• “Vudr” is the local name for Karewas in Kashmiri language.

Formation:

• Karewas are the thick deposits of glacial clay and other materials embedded with moraines. These are unconsolidated lacustrine deposits. Lacustrine means “associated to lakes”.
• Kashmir valley resides between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal ranges of the Kashmir Himalayas.
• In earlier times, when the upliftment of the Pir Panjal ranges happened, the flow of the river has stopped.
• As a result, the whole of Kashmir valley became a large lake. Slowly, the glacial deposits have accumulated here in this lake. Thus creating a large lacustrine plain.
• Later on, the water drained away and these unconsolidated deposits remained there. These unconsolidated gravel and mud deposits are known as Karewa formation.
• However, some beliefs also say that the water accumulation was of Tethys sea. and over time, many earthquakes came. As a result, some fault developed in the Baramulla range and the water drained out.
• The depth of Karewa deposits is about 1400 m and most of the area lies to the west of the river Jhelum.
• They are characterized with fossils of mammals and at places by peat.
• In fact, the karewas have been elevated, dissected and removed by subaerial denudation as well as by the Jhelum river giving them the present position.

Significance:

• The Karewa deposits are composed of sand, silt, clay, shale, mud, lignite, gravel and loessic sediments. Therefore, it is extremely important for agricultural and horticultural practices in the valley.
• The world famous variety of saffron, which is locally known as ‘zafron’ is cultivated on this deposits.
• It also helps in the cultivation of almond, walnut, apple and orchards.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

With reference to ‘Karewa deposits’, consider the following statements:

1. Karewas are lacustrine deposits found in Western Ghats

2. They are characterized with fossils

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer