Summary:
An ancient Himalayan village called Samjung, located in Nepal’s Upper Mustang region at 13,000 feet altitude, has been forced to relocate due to severe water shortages caused by climate change. For centuries, the Buddhist community thrived by herding yaks and sheep and farming barley. However, the water sources—fed by glaciers and snowmelt—have dried up as glaciers retreat and snowfall has nearly vanished for almost three years.

The village’s springs and canals have dried, and increasingly intense monsoon rains cause destructive flash floods, damaging homes and farmland. This has made the traditional mud homes and terraces uninhabitable, forcing families to abandon their ancestral homes.

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region, which stretches across Afghanistan to Myanmar, is warming faster than lowlands. Its glaciers feed major rivers supporting 240 million mountain residents and 1.65 billion people downstream. With an estimated 80% of glacier volume in the region possibly disappearing this century without drastic emission cuts, water scarcity is becoming chronic.

Samjung villagers have relocated about 15 kilometers away near the Kali Gandaki river, where they now have access to water, markets, and tourism opportunities near Lo Manthang, a medieval city. Though grateful for easier water access, many villagers miss their old homes and the way of life there.

Climate change is quietly reshaping how people live and work in high mountain regions, disrupting farming, water availability, and weather patterns. The village relocation highlights the difficult choices communities face as environmental changes threaten their survival.

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