Rising up in Choglamsar, a dusty city settlement on the outskirts of Leh city, Dr Lobzang Chorol witnessed firsthand the vital function water performs on this chilly desert. Chatting with The Higher India, Dr Chorol remembers two particular incidents that left an indelible impression on her.
“Throughout my childhood, I vividly bear in mind a summer time when the PHE (Public Well being and Engineering) tanker did not arrive, leaving us with out a water provide. We needed to stroll lengthy distances to fetch water for our fundamental wants. I noticed the fear on my guardian’s faces and the pressure it placed on our complete group. This disaster opened my eyes to the fragility of our water sources and the pressing want for higher administration and understanding,” she remembers.
The second incident Dr Chorol remembers is from her undergraduate days when she visited her ancestral village known as Skumpata (Lingshet) in Ladakh, which is about 80 km from Leh city.
“I used to be struck by the ingenious conventional water administration techniques our ancestors had developed — the intricate community of channels and storage ponds that had sustained life on this harsh panorama for hundreds of years. Nonetheless, I additionally observed how these techniques had been underneath menace from altering local weather patterns and modernisation. It made me realise the significance of bridging conventional data with trendy scientific approaches,” she remembers.
It’s this fascination and concern that motivated her to higher perceive the chilly desert’s water techniques to pursue her PhD at IIT-ISM (Indian College of Mines), Dhanbad. Below the mentorship of Professor Sunil Kumar Gupta, a number one knowledgeable within the subject, she intently studied the groundwater techniques in Leh city. Spanning six years and eight months, her analysis lastly culminated within the completion of her thesis earlier this 12 months. (Yow will discover it right here.)
There have been instances when the challenges appeared overwhelming — from folks unwilling to provide their borewell water samples to accumulating secondary baseline knowledge and the emotional weight of seeing the deterioration of Leh’s water sources firsthand.
“However each time I felt discouraged, I remembered the faces of my household and group again in Ladakh, relying on this treasured useful resource. It wasn’t simply educational analysis; it was in regards to the lives and futures of actual folks. It wasn’t nearly incomes a level; it was about securing a sustainable future for Ladakh,” she says.
Leh’s invisible community of underground aquifers
Leh is a city nestled within the rain shadow space of the mighty Himalayas, receiving barely 100 mm of annual rainfall. Life on this high-altitude desert thrives towards all odds, because of an invisible community of underground aquifers.
“These aquifers are primarily pure underground reservoirs fashioned within the porous layers of rock and sediment beneath Leh. They’re recharged primarily by snowmelt from surrounding mountains, glacial soften from close by glaciers, restricted annual rainfall, and infiltration from rivers and streams. This recharge course of is closely influenced by seasonal patterns, with most occurring through the hotter months when snow and glaciers soften,” explains Dr Chorol.
These aquifers act as a pure storage and filtration system, holding water that percolates via the bottom and releasing it slowly over time. Moreover, the groundwater maintains a comparatively steady temperature, which could be helpful for each ecosystems and human use.
“The way in which these aquifers help Leh’s thriving is multifaceted. They maintain pure vegetation essential for the native ecosystem and allow agriculture in an in any other case arid setting. For human use, they feed springs used for ingesting water, provide water for wells, and help conventional water administration techniques like zings (ponds) and yura (channels),” she notes.
“The saved water in aquifers helps Leh stand up to durations of low precipitation, offering resilience towards drought. This constant water provide permits for city improvement and helps the rising tourism trade,” she provides.
Understanding and correctly managing this invisible community of aquifers is essential for Leh’s sustainable future, particularly within the face of local weather change and growing water calls for.
However this significant lifeline is underneath extreme menace.
‘Slowly poisoning the very veins that maintain us’
With rising vacationer footfall, unplanned improvement and poor water administration practices, Dr Chorol’s almost seven-year analysis into Leh’s groundwater has give you some troubling findings.
Decline in water high quality: “Over the previous six years, we’ve noticed a big lower in water high quality. As an example, Complete Dissolved Solids (TDS) ranges have elevated by about 30% in some areas, from a mean of 300 mg/L to over 400 mg/L. This fast enhance is alarming. To provide you an thought of how critical the issue is, let me share a few of our key findings,” she notes.
“For ingesting water, we discovered that 3.57% of our samples had been of extraordinarily poor high quality, and one other 3.57% had been poor. What’s significantly regarding is that 92.86% had been solely of common high quality, and we didn’t discover any samples within the good or wonderful classes,” she explains.
“Nitrate ranges have risen by as much as 50% in sure wells, approaching the World Well being Group (WHO) restrict of fifty mg/L in some circumstances. We’ve additionally detected growing concentrations of heavy metals like chromium and cadmium with some samples exhibiting ranges two to a few instances increased than what we noticed six years in the past. For irrigation water, the state of affairs is equally worrying. We discovered that 3.57% of samples had been very poor, 42.86% had been poor, and 53.57% had been common. This means a widespread concern with water high quality,” she provides.
Change in groundwater chemistry: The chemical composition of Leh’s groundwater has altered noticeably. “We’re seeing elevated ranges of ions like chloride, sulphate, and sodium, that are sometimes related to human actions. For instance, chloride concentrations have risen by about 40% in some wells over the six years,” she explains.
“This alteration suggests contamination from sources like improper sewage disposal and the focus of main cations has elevated, following the order of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. We’re seeing increased ranges of sodium, potassium, fluoride, and nitrates, which we consider are linked to the elevated use of agrochemicals in agriculture,” she provides.
What’s significantly regarding is the elevated ranges of heavy metals we’re detecting. Iron, manganese, chromium, nickel, cadmium, and copper are all current at ranges exceeding permissible limits in most of the samples studied by Dr Chorol.
“We’re seeing contamination from varied sources — sewage leaking from poorly maintained septic techniques, agricultural runoff from fertilisers, waste from elevated tourism, and lack of correct wastewater therapy amenities. Every of those sources may appear small by itself however collectively, they’re having a big impression on our water high quality. It’s a posh concern, however understanding it is step one in the direction of addressing it,” she notes.
Well being dangers: “Firstly, we discovered that sure heavy metals, resembling chromium, cadmium, and nickel, current within the groundwater have the potential to extend the danger of most cancers. This danger is especially regarding for youngsters, who’re extra susceptible to the results of those contaminants because of their growing our bodies and better water consumption relative to their physique weight. Along with the carcinogenic danger, we additionally recognized non-carcinogenic well being dangers posed by chromium within the groundwater,” explains Dr Chorol.
Other than heavy metals, her research additionally investigated the well being dangers related to fluoride and nitrate publicity within the groundwater.
“The hazard quotient evaluation revealed that the oral pathway, i.e. ingesting contaminated water, was the first route of publicity for all age teams. Fluoride and nitrate had been discovered to be the main contributors to those well being dangers with kids and infants being essentially the most susceptible to their results. Fluoride, when consumed in extra, can result in dental and skeletal fluorosis, which might trigger discolouration and harm to the tooth and bones. Nitrate, then again, can intrude with the blood’s capability to hold oxygen, resulting in a situation known as methemoglobinemia, which is very harmful for infants,” she notes.
Affect of local weather change
From 27 July to 30 July 2024, round 12 flights couldn’t contact down at Leh’s Kushok Bakula Rinpoche Airport whereas many extra had been cancelled. The utmost working temperature of Leh airport is 32°C however on 28 July, the Leh division recorded 33.5°C as per the Metrology Centre of Ladakh. Equally, the temperature recorded within the Kargil division was 37.5°C.
Ladakh was burning this summer time due to an enormous deficit in rainfall. It acquired 3 mm of rainfall until the beginning of August as towards the conventional of 15 mm.
This lack of precipitation and intense warmth wave has dried out the soil, inflicting crops to wither and bushes to require extra water. In the meantime, groundwater exploitation by drilling extra borewells has additional accelerated the decline in groundwater ranges and reserves.
As everyone knows, Leh is positioned in a high-altitude desert area, the place the first supply of water for our aquifers is the melting of glaciers and snowpack within the surrounding mountains. Nonetheless, as latest occasions point out, local weather change is inflicting vital alterations to this delicate steadiness, resulting in extreme penalties for our groundwater sources.
One of the crucial distinguished results of local weather change is the rise in international temperatures. The fast melting of glaciers results in a surge in water stream through the summer time months, but it surely additionally means that there’s much less water saved within the type of ice to maintain the stream throughout dry seasons.
“Furthermore, local weather change can also be altering precipitation patterns in Leh. We’re experiencing extra frequent and intense excessive climate occasions, resembling heavy rainfall and flash floods. Whereas these occasions do contribute to the recharge of our aquifers to some extent, additionally they result in elevated floor runoff and soil erosion. In consequence, a good portion of the rainwater is misplaced earlier than it could percolate into the bottom and replenish our aquifers,” says Dr Chorol.
“One other issue to think about is the altering vegetation cowl within the area. As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, we’re observing shifts within the native ecosystem. Some native plant species like seabuckthorn, willow and poplar that play a vital function in retaining moisture and selling groundwater recharge are struggling to adapt to those new situations. The lack of these species can additional exacerbate the issue of diminished aquifer recharge,” she provides.
Damaged sewage system
The present state of Leh’s sewage system is a big concern on the subject of the standard of its groundwater. Sadly, the city lacks a complete and environment friendly sewage therapy system, which has led to the deterioration of our groundwater sources over time.
“At current, a lot of the households and institutions in Leh depend on particular person septic tanks or dry soak pits for wastewater disposal. Whereas these techniques are designed to deal with wastewater to some extent, they’re typically poorly maintained, overloaded, or improperly constructed. In consequence, untreated or partially handled sewage can seep into the bottom, contaminating our aquifers with dangerous pollution resembling nitrates, micro organism, and viruses,” notes Dr Chorol.
Furthermore, the fast progress of tourism and urbanisation in Leh has put extra pressure on the present sewage infrastructure. The elevated quantity of wastewater generated by resorts, eating places, and different business institutions typically exceeds the capability of their septic techniques, resulting in the overflow of untreated sewage into the setting.
“Our research has revealed elevated ranges of nitrates, faecal coliform micro organism, and different contaminants in lots of groundwater samples, indicating the impression of sewage infiltration. These contaminants pose critical well being dangers, particularly to kids and the aged,” she says.
“Whereas the native administration has taken some steps to handle the difficulty, resembling selling the development of improved septic tanks and inspiring using eco-friendly bathrooms, these measures have been inadequate to maintain tempo with the rising challenges,” she provides.
Moreover, the elevated demand for water because of inhabitants progress and tourism places extra strain on our groundwater sources. “As extra water is extracted from the aquifers, the pure recharge course of is unable to maintain tempo, resulting in a decline in groundwater ranges and potential depletion of our aquifers in the long term,” she provides.
In response to a latest research revealed in April 2024 within the Journal of Water and Local weather Change led by Dr Farooq Ahmad Dar — assistant professor on the Division of Geography and Catastrophe Administration, College of Kashmir — groundwater extraction and decline in Leh has elevated considerably in recent times. Listed here are two key knowledge factors from the research:
1. Nicely drilling:
- In 1997, there have been solely 10 drilled wells in Leh.
- By 2020, the entire variety of wells had grown to 2,659.
- This represents a rise of about 115 new wells per 12 months.
2. Groundwater extraction:
- Groundwater extraction elevated by roughly 26% from 2009 to 2020.
- About seven million cubic metres of water are drawn yearly from wells.
Chatting with The Higher India, Dr Dar says, “These figures ought to elevate alarm bells within the area. In easy language, these figures spotlight the present situation of groundwater pumping. When extra folks will shift to groundwater and drill their very own wells, there can be no verify on the reserves. Groundwater is a State Topic and which means it’s the duty of the native administration to have authorized checks on its use and misuse.”
“On this situation, when extra wells can be drilled, which we estimated at a price of 115 wells per 12 months (these figures are primarily based on restricted knowledge, the speed may very well be even increased), the reserves can be depleted very quickly and the drilled wells can even fail/dry out. This may have extreme penalties on irrigation, tourism, industries, agriculture and folks’s lives. So, the Authorities should intervene urgently to handle this drawback,” he provides.
3. Inhabitants progress:
- The inhabitants of the Ladakh area grew from 29,730 in 1901 to 1,52,175 in 2020.
- This represents an annual progress price of 15%.
4. Urbanisation:
- The built-up space elevated by 20% from 1969 to 2017.
- Within the final 10 years, the built-up space round main cities elevated by about 75%.
5. Glacier shrinkage:
- Glaciers within the area have shrunk by 40% in space and 25% in quantity since round 1650 AD.
- This reduces the glacier soften that replenishes groundwater.
Whereas his research doesn’t present particular measurements of groundwater degree decline, it states that these elements have led to an imbalance between water demand and provide, decline of shallow sources, discount of pure discharge, drying of springs, and decline in water ranges.
“With out quick intervention, the standard and amount of Leh’s groundwater will proceed to say no quickly over the following 20–30 years. It’s a countdown we can’t ignore,” says Dr Chorol.
Options
There are numerous actionable options that the native authorities, administration, enterprise homeowners, and residents can take to handle the rising concern surrounding groundwater.
1) Stricter laws for groundwater extraction: Obligatory permits for groundwater extraction; metering of groundwater utilization; pricing of groundwater; strict zoning laws; set up clear pointers on the minimal distance between borewells and septic tanks; hefty fines for companies discovered dumping waste in water our bodies; and common mapping of groundwater sources.
2) Upgrading and enhancing Leh’s sewage administration system: Set up a decentralised sewage therapy plan with small-scale therapy techniques; set up superior septic techniques and dry bathrooms and composting techniques; improve current STPs and assemble new ones in areas not lined by sewage community; put money into superior water therapy applied sciences; and establishing a daily water high quality monitoring programme.
3) Tourism trade stepping as much as the plate: Encourage resorts, guesthouses, and eating places to put in water-efficient fixtures; promote using greywater recycling techniques; set up rainwater harvesting techniques; cost water conservation charges for vacationers with proceeds going to native water administration initiatives; and necessary water audits for all resorts and guesthouses.
4) Leveraging conventional water administration techniques: Promote conventional rotational water distribution system (bandabas); implement indigenous engineering strategies, resembling Ladakh’s intricate canal techniques (ma-yur, yu-ra); develop and implement context-appropriate irrigation techniques taking into consideration modernisation and local weather change; and introduce conventional ceremonies associated to water administration to get buy-in for the conservation effort.
(In Half 2, we’ll additional focus on actionable options and suggestions by specialists to mitigate the extraction of Leh’s groundwater and enhance its high quality.)
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photos courtesy Dr Lobzang Chorol, Shutterstock, PixaHive and Attain Ladakh)
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