India, Oct. 16 -- In October 2025, Joginder Chand, a 50-year-old shepherd from Udyol village in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, set out on what should have been a routine migration. With a herd of 600 sheep and goats, and accompanied by four other shepherds, Chand was returning from the high ranges in Chamba to the lower (and warmer) grazing grounds in Kangra district, travelling across the Jarol Jot pass-a route familiar and used by generations before him. But the mountain did not behave as expected. An avalanche suddenly swept away more than 100 animals. In a pastoral economy where livestock is the only currency, the loss was devastating.

Chand belongs to the Gaddi community, spread mostly in Chamba and Kangra. Gaddi shepherds move...