Ice for a green Ladakh

In Ladakh, one of the last strongholds of Buddhism in India, the stupa is making a comeback. But these stupas are not made of stone, but of ice and will not last beyond the first few months of summer.

These ice stupas are in reality artifical glaciers that freeze and hold water that would otherwise have flown out of glacial rivers and streams in winter and disappeared into the barren earth of Ladakh. These ice stupas are the brainchild of Sonam Wangchuk, the founder of The students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an institute promoting alternative learning strategies in Ladakh. The first of these were inaugurated in March 2015, and local residents have already adorned it with prayer flags.

Speak of artificial glaciers and Ladakh, and the name that comes to mind is Chewang Norphel, the Padma Sri recipient who has built several all across Ladakh in order to tackle water scarcity. Norphel, says Wangchuk, had confided that his glaciers were melting too quickly in summer, which set him thinking on what needed to be done.

“Norphel’s glaciers were flat and horizontal. I had my Eureka moment when I saw a block of ice under a bridge that had not melted even in June. I hit upon a conical structure, which would have minimal surface area exposed to sunlight, even while maximising the volumes they can hold,” says Wangchuk, an engineer by training.

The ice stupa relies on gravity, utilising the altitude difference between a natural glacier at a higher altitude and the stupa site lower down. Insulated pipes, laid four-five feet underground, bring melted water from glaciers to the site where a sprinkler spews out water, which forms droplets that freeze faster.

A 20-metre-high ice stupa can hold roughly eight lakh litres of water, according to Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, member of Sonam’s team. In the past one year, stupas have been used to irrigate a 5,000 square metre area of desert land where 500 willow and poplar trees were planted. This winter, Sonam’s team is building three 100-feet-tall model ice stupas and several smaller stupas near glaciers, and the ambitition is to irrigate a 500,000 square metre barren plot.  

Last year, the Sikkim government invited Sonam to help drain water from glacial lakes forming at higher altitutes. Switzerland has also expressed interest in using ice stupas to help restore glaciers in the Swiss Alps.

The ice stupa project is one of 30 finalists for the prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise, 2016. Wangchuk is especially concerned about the impact of climate change and how to prepare for a future where Ladakh depends more on rainfall and less on glacier and snow-fed water. “We are experimenting on how to use very small amounts of rainfall to grow crops and grass. We are adapting the concept of farming in winter using greenhouses, using less water and preserving humidity,” he adds.small amounts of rainfall to grow crops and grass. We are adapting the concept of farming in winter using greenhouses, using less water and preserving humidity,” he adds.plot where a university has been proposed.  

The ice stupa project is one of 30 finalists for the prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise, 2016. If Wangchuk wins the rupees one crore prize money, he is planning to contribute the corpus to set up an alternative university in Ladakh for students from Himalayan and other mountainous regions. Wangchuk is especially concerned about the impact of climate change and how to prepare for a future where Ladakh depends more on rainfall and less on glacier.