Artificial glaciers need more funding
June 9, 2010
The man who designed the first artificial glacier in Ladakh, India, needs more funding for his concept to survive.
Mr Chewang Norphel, a retired engineer for the Jammu and Kashmir government, created his first artificial glacier in 1987.
He said, “All things are dependent on funds, if I get good funds then I can make a good structure which can last 15 to 20 years.”
Mr Norphel has implemented artificial glaciers in 10 villages around Ladakh, however five artificial glaciers were destroyed due to extreme flooding in 2008.
“Each glacier takes a long time to restore and I just don’t have the funds,” Mr Norphel said.
“We are getting less and less funds. So far the Government are not giving funds towards the glaciers, they are only contributing towards the building of reservoirs,” he added.
An artificial glacier, which costs about 1,500 pounds to build, is a network of water channels and damns along the upper slope of a valley. In November water is diverted to the shady side of a mountain where it can slow down and freeze. The artificial glacier closest to the village melts first and provides irrigation water at the crucial sowing time in April or May.
The artificial glacier has been described by many scientists in Ladakh as the only solution to the rapidly melting glaciers and the Science and Technology department in Ladakh have sponsored two glaciers this year.
Miss Amy Higgins, a researcher for National Geographic magazine, is working closely with Mr Norphel to see whether they are making a difference. She said, “There’s tremendous potential for Pakistan, Tibet and Krgystan to take this technology and adopt it to places that have water scarcity.”
Click here to watch a video on the artificial glacier. blog comments powered by Disqus
