Above the green treeline of pine, fir, and deodar, the snow-capped Katsal Peak shines in the bright spring sun and azure blue sky. From his rickety wooden shop in Pahalgam’s main market, Ghulam Nabi, 67, sees this peak, at an altitude of 15,860 feet in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, daily. Nabi sells nun chai, the piping hot traditional pink beverage, a savoury brew of roasted green tea and milk, consumed twice a day by locals.

Every summer in the past, adventure lovers, including those from outside India, would take early morning tea from his shop and trek through either Ganesh Bal or Baisaran meadow to reach the alpine Tulian Lake at the foothills of the peak. Not this year though.