We all know Ladakh as a mesmerising tourist spot for our summer vacations. We don’t realise that the locals are struggling to get their daily source of water. Chewang Norphel a 79-year old Civil engineer noticed that this issue was causing the local population to migrate to the cities.
Ladakh is a region of poor rainfall and around 80% of the locals rely on farming. Hence glacier and snowmelt are their primary sources of water, which is mainly used for irrigation. Due to Global Warming the glaciers have started melting faster and more rapidly. The farmers started facing scarcity in water during their sowing season (June) while the water that runs in the rivers during the winter months went waste as no farming was possible at that time.
Chewang had his Eureka moment when he saw water slowly freeze from a leaking tap to form an ice pool on the ground. This gave him the idea that they could store the water as ice during the non-sowing season. Using his engineering skills, he started building ‘artificial glaciers’ by diverting the excess water into a shallow place, covering it with shade and let nature do its job. These artificial glaciers melt during the sowing season and has tremendously benefited the farmers of the region.
The income has increased creating better lifestyles for the locals and reduced migration. He has built about 10 glaciers and the shortest glacier is 500 meters long and the longest is 2 kilometres long. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015. This man shows us that the mind, when applied towards solving problems, can make a big difference.
