NEW DELHI: Ladakh is facing a water crisis. With the added disadvantages of hostile terrain and extreme weather, irrigation is difficult. Farmers are totally dependent on natural sources of water, often from melting glaciers thousands of feet above.

Having grown up amid the suffering farmers, civil engineer Chewang Norphel came up with a novel but simple means of water harvesting — creating artificial glaciers.

"It was sad to see water flowing into the river when farmers had little to irrigate their fields," says Mr. Norphel, chief officer of the Leh Nutrition Project, a non-governmental organisation that runs developmental programmes.

Ladakh grows barley, wheat and vegetables. "Sowing starts in April and May, and irrigation is required a month later. But the glaciers start melting only after July. Lack of water often threatened the crop."

In 1987, Mr. Norphel, who worked in the Rural Development Department and is well versed in irrigation technology, thought of diverting a stream flowing near his village, close to Leh, to a shady area where its current could be checked. In winter the slow-moving water will freeze. This artificial glacier, at 3,000-4,000 feet below a natural glacier, will melt earlier or rather just when water is needed for irrigation.

The first glacier Mr. Norphel created is at Phuktsey. It is more than two km in length. Four have been added since.

The process involves diverting water from a stream or river through pipes to check its speed and allowing it to flow down a slope. The project costs about Rs. 2.5 lakh.

Dearth of funds

Similar projects can be promoted but funds are hard to come by. The Centre can allocate Rs. 24 lakh a project under its Watershed Development Programme but often only a couple of instalments are released.

Mr. Norphel says the project needs modification for storing a large quantum of water. "This is optimum utilisation of water by using the simplest technique at a low cost. It also helps to recharge groundwater and nearby springs."

He is training people to take up similar small irrigation projects in some 100 villages around Leh, which face acute water shortage.

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