Rising up in Choglamsar, a dusty city settlement on the outskirts of Leh city, Dr Lobzang Chorol witnessed firsthand the important position water performs on this chilly desert. Talking to The Higher India, Dr Chorol recollects 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 and not using a water provide. We needed to stroll lengthy distances to fetch water for our primary wants. I noticed the fear on my father or mother’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 recollects.
The second incident Dr Chorol recollects 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 programs 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 programs had been beneath menace from altering local weather patterns and modernisation. It made me realise the significance of bridging conventional data with trendy scientific approaches,” she recollects.
It’s this fascination and concern that motivated her to higher perceive the chilly desert’s water programs to pursue her PhD at IIT-ISM (Indian Faculty of Mines), Dhanbad. Below the mentorship of Professor Sunil Kumar Gupta, a number one professional within the subject, she carefully studied the groundwater programs in Leh city. Spanning six years and eight months, her analysis lastly culminated within the completion of her thesis earlier this yr. (You’ll find it right here.)
There have been occasions when the challenges appeared overwhelming — from folks unwilling to provide their borewell water samples to amassing 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 tutorial analysis; it was concerning 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 shaped 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 by the bottom and releasing it slowly over time. Moreover, the groundwater maintains a comparatively steady temperature, which may be useful for each ecosystems and human use.
“The way in which these aquifers assist Leh’s thriving is multifaceted. They maintain pure vegetation essential for the native ecosystem and allow agriculture in an in any other case arid atmosphere. For human use, they feed springs used for ingesting water, provide water for wells, and assist conventional water administration programs like zings (ponds) and yura (channels),” she notes.
“The saved water in aquifers helps Leh face 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 rising water calls for.
However this significant lifeline is beneath 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. For example, Complete Dissolved Solids (TDS) ranges have elevated by about 30% in some areas, from a median of 300 mg/L to over 400 mg/L. This fast improve is alarming. To provide you an concept of how severe 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 glorious 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 instances. We’ve additionally detected rising concentrations of heavy metals like chromium and cadmium with some samples exhibiting ranges two to 3 occasions larger than what we noticed six years in the past. For irrigation water, the scenario 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 difficulty 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 usually related to human actions. For instance, chloride concentrations have risen by about 40% in some wells over the six years,” she explains.
“This transformation 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 larger 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 lots of the samples studied by Dr Chorol.
“We’re seeing contamination from numerous sources — sewage leaking from poorly maintained septic programs, 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 influence on our water high quality. It’s a fancy difficulty, however understanding it is step one in the direction of addressing it,” she notes.
Well being dangers: “Firstly, we discovered that sure heavy metals, comparable to chromium, cadmium, and nickel, current within the groundwater have the potential to extend the threat of most cancers. This threat is especially regarding for youngsters, who’re extra susceptible to the consequences of those contaminants as a consequence of their creating our bodies and better water consumption relative to their physique weight. Along with the carcinogenic threat, we additionally recognized non-carcinogenic well being dangers posed by chromium within the groundwater,” explains Dr Chorol.
Aside from 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 foremost contributors to those well being dangers with youngsters and infants being probably the most susceptible to their results. Fluoride, when consumed in extra, can result in dental and skeletal fluorosis, which may trigger discolouration and harm to the tooth and bones. Nitrate, then again, can intervene with the blood’s capability to hold oxygen, resulting in a situation known as methemoglobinemia, which is particularly 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 obtained 3 mm of rainfall until the beginning of August as towards the traditional 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 current occasions point out, local weather change is inflicting important alterations to this delicate stability, resulting in extreme penalties for our groundwater sources.
One of the distinguished results of local weather change is the rise in world temperatures. The fast melting of glaciers results in a surge in water circulate through the summer time months, however it additionally means that there’s much less water saved within the type of ice to maintain the circulate throughout dry seasons.
“Furthermore, local weather change can be altering precipitation patterns in Leh. We’re experiencing extra frequent and intense excessive climate occasions, comparable to heavy rainfall and flash floods. Whereas these occasions do contribute to the recharge of our aquifers to some extent, in addition they result in elevated floor runoff and soil erosion. Because of this, a good portion of the rainwater is misplaced earlier than it may well percolate into the bottom and replenish our aquifers,” says Dr Chorol.
“One other issue to contemplate 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 an important position 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 lowered aquifer recharge,” she provides.
Damaged sewage system
The present state of Leh’s sewage system is a big concern relating to 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 programs are designed to deal with wastewater to some extent, they’re usually poorly maintained, overloaded, or improperly constructed. Because of this, untreated or partially handled sewage can seep into the bottom, contaminating our aquifers with dangerous pollution comparable to nitrates, micro organism, and viruses,” notes Dr Chorol.
Furthermore, the fast development of tourism and urbanisation in Leh has put extra pressure on the present sewage infrastructure. The elevated quantity of wastewater generated by inns, eating places, and different business institutions usually exceeds the capability of their septic programs, resulting in the overflow of untreated sewage into the atmosphere.
“Our research has revealed elevated ranges of nitrates, faecal coliform micro organism, and different contaminants in lots of groundwater samples, indicating the influence of sewage infiltration. These contaminants pose severe well being dangers, particularly to youngsters and the aged,” she says.
“Whereas the native administration has taken some steps to deal with the problem, comparable to selling the development of improved septic tanks and inspiring using eco-friendly bogs, these measures have been inadequate to maintain tempo with the rising challenges,” she provides.
Moreover, the elevated demand for water as a consequence of inhabitants development 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 line with a current 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 lately. 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 yr.
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.
Talking to 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 might be no examine on the reserves. Groundwater is a State Topic and meaning it’s the duty of the native administration to have authorized checks on its use and misuse.”
“On this situation, when extra wells might be drilled, which we estimated at a price of 115 wells per yr (these figures are primarily based on restricted knowledge, the speed could possibly be even larger), the reserves might be depleted very quickly and the drilled wells will even fail/dry out. It will have extreme penalties on irrigation, tourism, industries, agriculture and other people’s lives. So, the Authorities should intervene urgently to deal with this drawback,” he provides.
3. Inhabitants development:
- The inhabitants of the Ladakh area grew from 29,730 in 1901 to 1,52,175 in 2020.
- This represents an annual development 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 stage decline, it states that these components 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 rapid 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 not ignore,” says Dr Chorol.
Options
There are various actionable options that the native authorities, administration, enterprise homeowners, and residents can take to deal with 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 bettering Leh’s sewage administration system: Set up a decentralised sewage therapy plan with small-scale therapy programs; set up superior septic programs and dry bogs and composting programs; improve current STPs and assemble new ones in areas not coated by sewage community; put money into superior water therapy applied sciences; and establishing an everyday water high quality monitoring programme.
3) Tourism trade stepping as much as the plate: Encourage inns, guesthouses, and eating places to put in water-efficient fixtures; promote using greywater recycling programs; set up rainwater harvesting programs; cost water conservation charges for vacationers with proceeds going to native water administration initiatives; and necessary water audits for all inns and guesthouses.
4) Leveraging conventional water administration programs: Promote conventional rotational water distribution system (bandabas); implement indigenous engineering strategies, comparable to Ladakh’s intricate canal programs (ma-yur, yu-ra); develop and implement context-appropriate irrigation programs considering 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 talk about actionable options and suggestions by specialists to mitigate the extraction of Leh’s groundwater and enhance its high quality.)
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photographs courtesy Dr Lobzang Chorol, Shutterstock, PixaHive and Attain Ladakh)
