kukshow, kulum, Nye, nyraks, phyang, takmachik, umla village and Many others: to be funded (approx. £10,000 each)
Ursi (£4,000) FUNDED BY: PRIVATE SPONSOR, OPEN GATE & THE GRACE CHARITY TRUST. OPENED: 2019
Zomal (£6,600) and Lamayuru (£15,840) funded by: jac trust
youlchung (£9,000) funded by: delhi duty free
The villagers of Ursi, Zomal, Lamayuru, Youlchung and Saboo in Ladakh, all subsistence farming families with numbers of adults and children varying from 600 to 1,500, asked Lotus Flower Trust to fund Artificial Glaciers for them as they had no water, and there are many more villages in need. Their nearest water supply is from a glacier at 18,000 ft which is difficult to reach and too far away to transport water from there. As water run-off from the mountain glaciers is receding rapidly due to global warming, any water supply to remote villages becomes further and further away from the village itself. This causes a major challenge to the villagers who can’t transport the water from the glaciers and streams to their villages. In most areas this is critical as, because of the severe weather pattern, they can only grow one crop each year.
Due to the ingenuity of a local engineer, a simple solution to the problem has been discovered. Artificial Glaciers can be created in the winter by diverting water melted by the sun during the day, down from the glaciers and high mountain snow fields in pipes, to an area close to the village in small stepped frozen lakes or to gullies between rocks. A sprinkler is used to shoot the water into the air. It freezes as it falls and turns to ice. During the winter it grows into an Artificial Glacier holding up to 500 tons of water. In the early spring months, as the ice melts, the water is piped close to the village and is used for domestic purposes, for animals and for agriculture. The Artificial Glacier allows water to be available earlier and means that two crops can be grown.
There are many villages across Ladakh requiring help. Some, due to the lack of water, have been abandoned as in this very sad video of Kulum village. Should water supplies be restored through an Artificial Glacier then the villagers could return to their homes.
Ursi Village Before the Artificial Glacier was Installed:
Thanks to generous contributions, we have recently been able to help fund Artificial Glaciers for the villagers at Ursi, and more recently at Zomal, Lamayuru and Youlchung , which has helped change many lives as these heart-warming thank you videos reflect:
Currently there is no support being offered locally, nationally or internationally for Artificial Glacier projects. Lotus Flower Trust is the first international charity to help. We are so pleased to have restored water to these villages to help sustain more lives. There are many more villages, including Kukshow, Kulum, Nye, Nyraks, Phyang, Takmachik and Umla village which need our help. Please donate if you can.
