Kargil: An idea to keep water flowing in sub-zero temperatures

The difficulty of water freezing in overground pipes has been countered by burying the water supply network at least five feet deep.

“In the harsh winter, anything above ground will completely freeze because of how low the temperatures can get. However, if we dig beyond the top four feet, water remains at normal temperature and does not freeze,” the councilor from Bhimbhat in Kargil told The Indian Express.

While burying water pipes is the norm in the cold desert that is Ladakh, “earlier, there would be one tap with lots of insulation carrying water to the surface and about 30 to 40 households would share that to carry water home,” Abdul Wahid said.

Over the last three years, the extension of this system to individual households has resolved a significant issue for residents of Kargil and Leh.
Sourced from local springs, the water is collected in large reservoirs built at a height in different villages. Where natural sources aren’t available, borewells have been dug to provide water to villages in the area.

Kargil District Magistrate Srikant Balasaheb Suse has been recognised under the category of Resource Utilisation from Central and State Schemes in the Excellence in Governance Awards 2024 organised by The Indian Express.

He said, “My project is part of the Jal Jeevan Mission. We have lots of water challenges in Ladakh because it gets as cold as -30 degrees Celsius. Everyone was sceptical of the scheme, and we didn’t get support at first because there was little technical know-how about how to fix a problem in a region like this. We researched and brainstormed a lot before implementing three to four technologies.”

“Pipelines in Ladakh are buried below five feet to prevent freezing. Reservoir tanks are above ground in mainland India but underground in Ladakh. I’ve implemented this in Kargil too, where I am now posted. Even when villages are buried in snow in Ladakh, they get water now. Getting the pipelines to remote villages was a challenge. We even had to use helicopters at times. We have a very short season during which we can work because roads are closed during snowfall, and the main one connects Leh to Srinagar. That period is April to October. Most of the labour comes from Jharkhand and Bihar,” Srikant Balasaheb Suse said.