Uncategorized

Residents of Saspolo Valley create an “Ice Stupa”


By Wazir Khurram Parvi (Geologist)

 

Kharmang Pari is a village located in Kharmang district of Gilgit Baltistan. The valley is also known as “Saspolo valley”, a name driven from the popularit of the region’s Saspolo apple.

Resident of the area have been creating the ‘Ice Stupa” for the last two years. The artificially created “Ice Stupa” is considered to be useful for storing water in iced form, which can be used in early spring, when glacial water is scarce. The first “Stupa” of this type was created by Sonam Wangchuk (Ladakh, India) in  2013. Since then, a large number of residents of Ladakh have been creating such “Stupas” with the help of NGOs and government organizations.

The residents of Saspolo valley hope to reduce the scarcity of water by creating the “Ice Stupas” and irrigate more barren land in the years ahead. Generally, ice and snow starts melting in the valley in the months of June, which is quite late for agricultural activities

To resolve this issue the people of this area tried to make an artificial glacier  by artificial glacier grafting technique with the collaboration of AKRSP but, unfortunately, they could not achieve their result.

In view of the success achieved, the residents of Saspolo valley hope to construct more “Ice Stupas” in the future. 

Related Articles

Back to top button