The Silent Disaster
Siddharth Behl
2025 — Ladakh, India
About this series
The Silent Disaster is a visual project centred on the intersection of tribal identity, sustainable nomadic livelihoods, and the cultural and ecological impacts of climate change among the Changpa community of the Indian Himalayas. The Changpas and their pashmina goats have long coexisted in a delicate balance with the harsh alpine terrain at nearly 15,000 feet, yet this balance is increasingly threatened by rapid climatic shifts.
The past decade has brought severe and unexpected changes, most notably the 2013 disaster in which extreme snowfall and plunging temperatures cut off access to winter pastures. Around 24,000 livestock died of starvation, with 90% of young animals stillborn or lost. Since then, Changpas have faced growing vulnerability to erratic weather, and migration from traditional grazing lands has sharply increased. Their pastoral system remains crucial, providing nearly 80% of the wool in the Jammu & Kashmir region, yet it is now at risk.
Education adds another layer of tension. The Residential Nomadic School in Puga—the only one serving the region—supports children whose families hope they will sustain pastoral traditions, even as the school’s limited resources emphasise modern livelihoods. Many families, already grappling with climate pressures, are moving toward urban life.
Through years of witnessing and photographing Changpa families across Ladakh, I have come to see The Silent Disaster as a responsibility: to use photography to amplify the voices of indigenous mountain communities and draw global attention to their climate-driven challenges. I hope the project becomes a platform fostering greater recognition of the Changpas, who continue to uphold vital ecological and cultural practices despite escalating environmental risks.
Photographer: Siddarth Behl
Nationality: Indian
Based in: New Delhi, India
Website: www.siddharthbehl.com
Instagram: @behlsiddharth
Siddharth is an Indian photographer, visual storyteller and a National Geographic Explorer based out of New Delhi, India. He grew up with a sensitivity towards nature and people, and being more curious about conveying my ideas to the world, he soon approached the medium of photography to express my thoughts visually and artistically. His photography is predominantly based on social stories, climate change, migration, refugees, followed by a blend of travel and lifestyle stories, characterised by both black & white and colour suitable mediums.
Covering a diversity of assignments in the last 10 years across length and breadth of India and parts of South Asia, Siddharth’s photographs divulges into fluid and cohesive stories where he has immensely photographed distinct landscapes, people, cultures, sustainable architectures, biodiversities, valued resources and built environments in people’s homelands; envisioning the risks posed by climate impacts.
Reviewing the happenings in a formidable world around him, his focussed photo projects etches the truth of environmental depletion, ranging from the traditional stories from the Himalayan geography to the eccentric Yamuna river traced by spiritual and religious influences from the past to present. His photography projects invoke a diverse chamber of subconscious thoughts marked by aesthetic paradigm shifts and evaluations.
Over last few years Siddharth has fetched visuals for popular clients including Rotary International, NRCL Dutch, The Guardian, AJWS, The Wire, The Hindu Frontline, Travel & Leisure, Svasa Life, Fountain Ink, Indian Quarterly, ICAEW, UNICEF, Christian Aid, SEEDS India, European Commission, United Way, Honeywell, Raspberry Pie, Designboom, Axis Four and many more.