Ladakh has achieved a performance of 60 million liters of water from melting glaciers
Delhi LG VK Saxena said this achievement reflects the administration’s unwavering commitment to environmental resilience, agricultural recovery and sustainable water security in the cold desert of Ladakh. File | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Union Territory Administration on Wednesday (Sep 16, 2026), which is expected to procure more than 1,000 acres of parched agricultural land in Ladakh, said around 60 million liters of water from melting glaciers has been diverted through large ponds.
“Four big ponds, built under the Him Sarovar project at Spituk Farka in Leh, have now been filled with glacier melt water in a record time of just five months. The construction work of the four big ponds started on April 10, 2026 and ended with the recharging and commissioning of the fourth pond on September 9,” Ladakh Governor VKenax Sarah said.
Officials said these large ponds will hold approximately 60 million liters of glacial meltwater, storing nearly 24 million liters of precious water and preventing it from being wasted.
“It will create a new command area of nearly 1,000 acres. Importantly, these ponds are directly recharged by glacial meltwater from the Stok Glacier stream, whose seasonal flows have been diverted into the Igoo-Phey Canal, which feeds into these reservoirs,” Mr Saxena said.
Officials said this diversion ensures that huge volumes of water, previously wasted, are now conserved for irrigation, ecological restoration and long-term water security. “This achievement reflects our administration’s unwavering commitment to environmental resilience, agricultural recovery and sustainable water security in the cold desert of Ladakh,” Mr. Saxena said.
Eighty percent of Ladakh’s population depends on agriculture and irrigation from glaciers and snow. The cold desert region has warmed over the past four decades, resulting in shrinking and premature melting of the region’s glaciers, officials said.
Published – 17 Sep 2026 09:31 IST