Ladakh is saving 90 million litres of glacier water daily that once flowed into Pakistan through Indus river by diverting it to irrigate 1,000 acres of parched land

Ladakh has started using nearly 90 million litres of glacier water every day, water that used to flow untapped into the Indus, to irrigate farmland that had long gone dry, officials told PTI on Thursday. The initiative has been driven by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.

Glacial water now flowing into 12 villages

The glacier melt is being channelled from the Stok village nallah in Leh into the Igoo-Phey irrigation canal. The move is expected to benefit around 12 villages and bring irrigation to more than 1,000 acres of land that had suffered from water shortages for years, officials said.


The entire intervention was carried out through simple earthwork, without any capital expenditure, marking what officials described as a major step toward a greener, water-secure Ladakh.

A resource that went untapped for decades

Despite sitting on abundant glacier and snowmelt resources, Ladakh has long struggled with irrigation shortages, with large volumes of seasonal water draining straight into the Indus while farmland nearby remained short of water, officials said.

During visits to villages across the region, Saxena identified spots where large quantities of glacier water were flowing downstream unused, and initiated efforts to put the resource to work. Stok nallah, fed by the Stok Kangri Glacier near Leh, was one such source.

On the LG's directions on August 14, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department diverted excess water from the main channel of the nallah into the Igoo-Phey canal by cutting two trenches with a JCB, officials said.

The numbers behind the diversion

The discharge from Stok nallah was measured at close to 36.60 cusecs. Since one cusec equals 28.32 litres per second, that works out to nearly 90 million litres over 24 hours, officials said.

"Two diversions have been created to channel an additional 26 cusecs into the Igoo-Phey canal, 19 cusecs towards Igoo village upstream and seven cusecs towards Phey village downstream. Planning is underway to utilise the remaining 10 cusecs of water," an official told PTI.

A canal built decades before its time

The 43-km-long Igoo-Phey canal was built between 1979 and 2005. During construction, nearly 200 metres of it was laid underground so that Stok nallah's water could pass over it without disturbing the canal's flow, a sign that this water source was known even when the project was first planned nearly five decades ago, officials said.

Even so, the water source remained untapped for decades, leaving the canal short of water and eventually leading to its disuse.

More water, every day, for all 12 villages

The new diversion is expected to raise the total flow in the Igoo-Phey canal from the existing 50 cusecs to nearly 80 cusecs. Earlier, canal water was shared among villages on a restrictive roster because supply was limited, officials said.

With the added supply, all 12 villages are expected to get water on a daily basis, significantly expanding irrigation across thousands of acres. Officials said this is expected to raise crop yields, improve farm incomes, generate employment and help revive the rural economy.

LG Saxena calls it a blueprint for the region

"By successfully saving 90 million litres of glacier water daily and diverting this huge volume of water from the Stok nallah into the Igoo Phey and Yokyur canals, we have proven that large-scale, sustainable water management is entirely feasible in our cold desert," Saxena told PTI.

"This is a monumental step toward our vision of a green, water-secure, and self-sustaining Ladakh. Our administration's unwavering commitment is to harness every single drop for irrigation," he said.

"This successful model is just a blueprint. We will expand these cost-effective interventions across Ladakh, transforming scattered glacier flows into a permanent lifeline for agricultural prosperity, revitalised rural economies, and long-term climate resilience for the people of Ladakh," he added.

More streams identified for similar projects

The administration has identified several other streams near the Igoo-Phey canal system for similar interventions, including Matho nallah, Tuchik Chenmo nallah, Tuchik Chon nallah and Stakna nallah. All such projects will follow the principles of cost-effective, gravity-based engineering, minimal wastage and environmental sustainability, officials said.

The administration added that integrating scattered glacier flows into existing irrigation infrastructure would create a decentralised water-resource management model, ensuring more reliable irrigation, expanding command areas and improving crop intensity, ultimately strengthening Ladakh's long-term water and climate resilience.

(With inputs from PTI)