Leh/Jammu, Aug 20 : Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has spearheaded an initiative under which Ladakh has started utilising nearly 90 million litres of glacier water– previously flowing untapped into the Indus– daily for sustainable water management and agricultural security, officials said on Thursday.
The huge volume of glacial-melt water is now being channelised from Stok village nallah in Leh into the Igoo-Phey irrigation canal, they said.
The intervention is expected to benefit nearly 12 villages and augment irrigation across more than 1,000 acres of land that had remained parched due to inadequate water availability, the officials said.
The initiative has been implemented through simple earthwork without any capital expenditure, marking a significant step towards improving agricultural productivity and advancing the vision of a green, water-secure and self-sustaining Ladakh, they added.
Despite being endowed with abundant glacier and snowmelt resources, Ladakh has historically faced acute irrigation shortages, with large volumes of seasonal water draining into the Indus while cultivable land remained dependent on limited irrigation supplies, the officials said.
Recognising this gap, Saxena, during his visits to various villages, identified locations where substantial quantities of glacier water were flowing downstream and initiated a systematic effort to harness the resource for productive use.
Stok nallah, fed by the Stok Kangri Glacier near Leh, was identified as one such source. On the lieutenant governor’s directions on August 14, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department diverted excess glacier water from the main channel of the nallah into the Igoo-Phey canal by creating two trenches using a JCB, the officials said.
The discharge from Stok nallah was assessed at approximately 36.60 cusecs. Since one cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second, the flow translates to nearly 90 million litres over 24 hours, they said.
“Two diversions have been created to channel an additional 26 cusecs into the Igoo-Phey canal — 19 cusecs towards Igoo village upstream and seven cusecs towards Phey village downstream. Planning is underway to utilise the remaining 10 cusecs of water,” an official said.
The 43-km-long Igoo-Phey canal was constructed between 1979 and 2005. During its construction, around 200 metres of the canal was built underground to allow Stok nallah water to pass over it without disturbing the canal’s flow, indicating that the water source was available when the project was conceived nearly five decades ago, they said.
However, the potential of the water source remained untapped for decades, resulting in persistent shortages in the canal and its eventual disuse.
The diversion of the glacier water is now expected to increase the total flow in the Igoo-Phey canal from the existing 50 cusecs to nearly 80 cusecs. Earlier, water from the canal was distributed among villages on a restrictive roster due to limited availability, the officials added.
With the additional supply, water availability is expected to be ensured on a daily basis for all 12 villages, significantly augmenting irrigation across thousands of acres, they said.
The increased availability of irrigation water is expected to raise crop yields, improve farm incomes, generate employment and contribute to the revival of the rural economy.
“By successfully saving 90 million litres of glacier water daily and diverting this huge volume of water from the Stok nallah into the Igoo Phey and Yokyur canals, we have proven that large-scale, sustainable water management is entirely feasible in our cold desert,” LG Saxena said.
“This is a monumental step toward our vision of a green, water-secure, and self-sustaining Ladakh. Our administration’s unwavering commitment is to harness every single drop for irrigation.
“This successful model is just a blueprint. We will expand these cost-effective interventions across Ladakh, transforming scattered glacier flows into a permanent lifeline for agricultural prosperity, revitalised rural economies, and long-term climate resilience for the people of Ladakh,” he added.
The administration has identified several other streams in the vicinity of the Igoo-Phey canal system for similar interventions, including Matho nallah, Tuchik Chenmo nallah, Tuchik Chon nallah and Stakna nallah.
All such projects will follow the principles of cost-effective, gravity-based engineering, minimal wastage and environmental sustainability.
The administration said integrating scattered glacier flows into existing irrigation infrastructure would create a decentralised water-resource management model, ensuring more reliable irrigation, expanding command areas and improving crop intensity.
The initiative is expected to contribute to higher agricultural output, increased farm incomes, employment generation and a revitalised rural economy, while strengthening Ladakh’s long-term water and climate resilience, the officials said.
