Chewang Norphel is an Indian civil engineer from Ladakh, who has built 15 artificial glaciers. He has earned the nickname Ice Man.
Falling in the rain-shadow area of the Himalaya, Ladakh is a cold, mountainous desert. During winter, temperature drops below the -30°c mark. Annual average rainfall is 50 mm. Dearth of water is the most important problem. The only source is glacier water from the mountains. They melt in summer, releasing the little water that the people of Ladakh get. This water is however managed by the people with the utmost care. It is stored for use throughout the year. Small wonder Norphel realised the importance of water.

Coming from a middle class family of Leh, Norphel went to Amar Singh College in Srinagar as a student of science. He completed a diploma course in civil engineering from Lucknow in 1960. In June 1960, he joined the rural development department of Jammu and Kashmir in Ladakh as a civil engineer.
It was while working on the zings and channels that he evolved the idea of making an artificial glacier. His method involves channelling glacier water to the shadow area of a mountain, covered from the sunlight. He puts in half-inch-wide iron pipes perpendicular to the edge of the depression where the water collects. After seeping into the pipe the water freezes. As more water seeps in, it pushes out the frozen block. This also freezes, continuing the cycle. On the other side emerges a neat, artificial glacier.
How does he manage to freeze water in the pipes? Another simple observation. “I noticed in Leh that water did not freeze in the channels but did so in the thin iron pipes. As the pipes are made of metal and are very thin, they lose heat quite rapidly,” he narrates, just as if he was telling you how he brushes his teeth. He has already made four such glaciers.
The advantages are clear. Natural glaciers are way up in the mountains, and they melt slowly in summer. Water reaches the villages quite late. Norphel has brought glaciers closer to the villages. Water comes in early as a bonus for the farmers.

In 1996, one year after he had retired, Norphel joined the Leh Nutrition Project, a non-governmental organisation, as project manager for watershed developmet. “Watershed development is the only solution for Ladakh’s rural economy. Otherwise, you will have rural folk flocking the city in search of jobs. And there are not many to go around,” he indicates.

Norphel proposes artificial glaciers as a substitute for dams, which to him are environmental and social problems, besides being a financial burden. Having spent so many years in governmental rural development, he has an interesting view of why they fail invariably. “Financial leakage,” he says, using a metaphor of water. Simple, isn’t it?