General Studies (Paper - 1) : Model Question & Answers

Question: What is ‘Stupa of Ice’, which has recently been in news from Ladakh? What are its advantages for water-harvesting?

Answer: Three decades after ‘ice man’ Chawang Norphel first harvested water in the form of artificial glaciers in Laddakh, Sonam Wangchuk, a young mechanical engineer, has taken the innovation forward.

To construct these glaciers, river water is brought down the mountain slope in pipes buried underground. The lower end of the pipe is bent to form a nozzle, which juts out of the ground. Water sprinkles out of this nozzle and, since the temperatures in these regions hover around -30^oC, it freezes and settles on a wooden frame, taking the shape of a cone. Science says that the water coming out of the lower end of the pipe attains the height from which it was drawn upstream.

The ice stupa of 20 metres height stores about 20 million litres of water and during summer, it melts to provide wat    er. The distinct advantages of Wangchuk’s stupas of ice are:-
1. The conical shape of glaciers which resemble Buddhist stupas means minimum surface area with maximum volume.
2. Reservoirs can be constructed anywhere, even at relatively lower altitudes.
3. Design does not require much labour, barring the one-time installation of pipes.