Author: Ramesh Vinayak in Leh
Publication: India Today
Date: October 15, 2007
Introduction: An intrepid hydrogeologist creates
a record by digging for water in the world's highest altitudes
At 18,380 ft in the Himalayas, Khardung La,
a wind-swept pass with scanty oxygen on the world's highest motorable road
in Ladakh, is the ultimate milestone for record-crazy adventure seekers. But,
Ritesh Arya's fascination with craggy and barren mountains runs deeper, literally.
This intrepid hydrogeologist is about to succeed in his quest for ground water
on Khardung La-a feat that could surpass his own world record of digging borewells
at high altitudes. Already, sparkling clear ground water is streaming out
of two borewells he had dug recently at South Pullu and North Pullu, army
posts and snow shelters on either side of the pass at 15,300 ft and 15,400
ft, respectively.
Until a month ago, the only source of drinking
water here were water tankers from distant Leh and Partapur at the base of
the Siachen glacier. "It's nothing short of a miracle to get ground water
at this height," gushes a Junior Commissioned Officer of the military
police post at South Pullu, an area where granite rocks abound which, according
to conventional geology, are too impervious to hold any ground water. But
Arya perceived a narrow valley of rock debris at the base of the receding
Khardung glacier, now 6 km from the road, as the most definite indicator of
ground water charged by the melting glacier. And, two days after a rig drilled
a 300-ft deep hole, it struck a ground water reservoir.
Arya plans his drilling operations after studying
the exposed rock faces in the landscape. Such exploits come naturally to him,
a diminutive 39-year-old who holds a PhD degree in geology. By combining his
hands-on expertise in Himalayan geology with an unconventional approach, this
hydrogeologist-turned-professional driller has broken new ground on scientific
exploitation of ground water in the high-altitude, cold desert of Ladakh.
In the past 12 years, Arya has dug more than a hundred borewells in inhospitable
and treacherous terrains where no geologist or government agency has ventured
before. From Siachen glacier to the China border, the Indus plains of Leh
and the Kargil heights, his explorations have ensured all-weather ground water
supplies to the army and civilians alike.
More significantly, Arya's pioneering research
is likely to redefine Himalayan hydrology and change the traditional schemes
for drinking water and irrigation in rain-deficit Ladakh, which has so far
been harnessing mostly surface water from the river Indus or glacier-fed streams.
Apart from perennial shortage, there is also the problem of silt in glacier
melt in summer and freezing of surface water sources in winter. In Leh town,
for example, only 10 per cent of the population-which rises from 15,000 to
50,000 every summer due to tourist inflow-has access to ground water through
public taps, the rest depends on water tankers. Ground water exploitation
in Ladakh, undertaken by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), has been confined
to areas along the Indus river. Exploration beyond that has always been discouraged
on the premise that a rocky mountain desert cannot hold ground water. But,
Arya punched holes in this belief by digging a borewell for the army at 14,000
ft in Chushul on China border in 2006-a feat that earned him an entry in the
Guiness Book of World Records. "It's like rediscovering the simple principles
of geology and physics operating in high-altitudes," says Arya.
"His borewells are not only a cost-effective
solution to the army's rising water needs in Ladakh but have also boosted
the morale of the troops," says Sanjay Kaul, assistant commander works
engineer at the newly-set up 14 Corps in Leh. "A systematic development
of untapped potential of ground water can lead to green revolution in this
cold desert," says Arya. He has since drilled borewells to augment water
supply schemes for, among others, the Airports Authority of India, the Indian
Oil Corporation, the Indian Air Force and field research laboratory of the
Defence Research and Development Organisation. Ashok Sahni, Professor Emeritus
at the Centre for Advanced Geology of Panjab University, calls Arya "an
unconventional hydrogeologist". "He took a risk by drilling in the
mountains and has struck abundant ground water where it was earlier seen as
impossible," says Sahni. Arya's discovery is based on practical experience
gleaned from five years of digging hand pumps in Himachal Pradesh where he
worked as a daily-wager hydrogeologist with the state government. What, however,
added depth to his knowledge was his study of wells in 17th century forts
on hill tops in Hamirpur and Solan districts. "The traditional mountain
water supply techniques were based on intuitive science," says Arya.
To explain the prevalence of ground water
in mountains, including the ones that have no rain-fed seepage or snowfall,
Arya divided the Himalayas into seven hydrostratigraphic zones in 1996 in
a study he presented the same year at the International Conference of Geology
in China. At the heart of his ground-breaking thesis is the finding that ground
water resources in the Himalayan region depend on the type of rocks and structural
parameters like folds, fissures and fault-lines in the rock strata. The mountains
have ground acquifers just like plains but the water movement in high-altitudes
is controlled by the principles of gravity and iso-stacy (wherein the water
level is itself up). In his reckoning, even a barren mountain top below the
height of Mount Everest will have ground water resources, provided it has
favourable lithological conditions like the presence of water-absorbing sedimentary
rocks or impervious rocks with water-trapping fault-lines. "Arya's high
success rate in high-altitude borewells has flowed from his intimate technical
knowledge of hydrogeology," says former CGWB chairman R.K. Chadda.
Arya has a near 100 per cent success rate
in his borewells commissioned on a no-water-no-payment basis. Experts view
his explorations as significant in the backdrop of receding glaciers and rising
demand for water in the Ladakh region. Also, troop deployment, which has increased
manifold since a new Corp was set up in Ladakh after the Kargil war in 1999,
adds to the shortage. "The water level of the river Indus has fallen
alarmingly this year, affecting irrigation schemes," says Chering Dorjay,
Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.
Clearly, with Arya around, at least water
is something that this cold desert will never thirst for.