Hussainabad: The farmers have made their own ice towers due to lack of water in the foothills of the high mountains of Pakistan, which is white throughout the year.
As a result of climate change, the hot winter has reduced the fall of snow and the resulting seasonal snow, which feeds the valleys of Gilgit -Baltistan in the remote region of the world’s second highest peak.
Farmers of the Valley Schoardo, at the shadow of the Karakoram Mountain Range, searched for ways to irrigate their apple and apricot gardens, at a height of 2,600 meters (8,200 feet).
Poll
Do you think that Icestopas created is an effective solution to water shortage in height areas?
“We discovered Artificial glacier On YouTube, “Ghulam Haider Hashmi told AFP.
He watched videos of Environmental activist and engineer, Sonam Wangchk, in the Indian region of Ladakh, which is less than 200 km across a heavy patrol border almost 10 years ago.
Water is piped from rivers to the village, and sprayed in the air during winter temperatures.
“Water must be pushed forward so that it falls down in the air when the temperature falls below zero, which produces ice towers,” said Bulletistan University professor Zakir Hussain Zakir.
Ice is made in the form of cone that is similar to Buddhist stopas, and operates as a storage system – when the temperature rises, the spring melts permanently.
‘Icestopas‘
There are 13,000 glaciers in Gilgit-Baltistan-more than any other country on the ground outside the occupied territories.
Their beauty has made the region one of the top tourist destinations in the country-the peak peaks on top of the old silk road, the cherry gardens, the glaciers, and a tourist moving tourists are still visible.
Sher Mohammad, a Hindu Kush-Hamali mountain range expert from Afghanistan to Myanmar, said that most of the water supply comes from melting snow in the spring, which is a part of the annual snow melting in the summer.
“From the end of October to early April, we were receiving heavy snowfall, but in the past few years, it is dry,” Mohammad told AFP, a researcher at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
The first “Icestopas” in Gilgit Baltistan was formed in 2018.
Now, more than 20 villages make them every winter, and “more than 16,000 residents have access to water without water reservoirs or tanks,” said Rashiduddin, a non -Pakistan project, a non -Pakistan project, to adopt the effects of climate change.
Farmers Mohammad Raza told AFP that eight stups were constructed in his village Husseinabad this winter, and about 20 million liters of water were trapped in the snow.
“We no longer have water shortages while planting,” he said.
Ali Kazim, a farmer in the valley, also said, “Before that, we had to wait for the glaciers to melt in June, but the stoons saved our fields.”
Harwest Season multiplying
Before Stopas, “we put our crops in May”, 26 -year -old Bashir Ahmed said that potatoes, wheat and wheat grow in a nearby village, which has also adopted this method.
And “we had only a growing weather, while now we can apply two or three times a year.”
Temperatures in Pakistan rose twice rapidly between 1981 and 2005, compared to the global average, which put the country on the first line of climate change effects, including water shortage.
Its 240 million residents live in an area that is 80 % of barren or semi -barren, and depends on rivers and rivers, which begins for more than three -quarters of its water in neighboring countries.
Glaciers are melting rapidly in Pakistan and all over the world, which has some exceptions, including the Karakoram Mountain Range, which increases the risk of flooding and reduces the supply of water in the long run.
“The climate is facing climate change, neither rich nor poor, nor urban nor rural,” said 24 -year -old Yasir Paravi.
“In our village, with ice stupas, we decided to take the opportunity.”
