Duration of the Project
Minimum 4 years (starting date – January 2010)

Total Funds Required
Rs. 52,99,294

Location
The Notified Area of Leh town

Number of beneficiaries to be reached
6580 households in the Notified Area (according to 2001 Census)

Beneficiary Profile (Socio-Economic Status & Levels of marginalization)
The project is aimed at benefiting all residents of Leh, including the socio-economically weaker groups, and women and children.

Context
The project was necessitated by the increasing private use of groundwater in Leh town, which was juxtaposed against a situation of fluctuating precipitation over the years, and lack of any regulation or monitoring mechanisms for the use of groundwater. Since the public water supply to every citizen of the town also depends almost entirely on groundwater, it was anticipated that at some point there would be a conflict between public needs and private demands.

Main Objective
To create a comprehensive, knowledge based approach to sustainable use and management of water in Leh town.
To generate adequate scientific data and understanding of groundwater and its availability in the Leh town catchment, and to win the cooperation of the various stakeholders on the issue.

Sub-Objective One
To generate scientific knowledge regarding the nature and extent of the groundwater resource.

Sub-Objective Two
To identify alternative technological solutions of water use practices for sustainable groundwater management, and to disseminate the information among the user groups.

Sub-Objective Three
To disseminate information regarding groundwater and alternative technological solutions among the stakeholders and decisionmakers in order to promote awareness towards the need for sustainable groundwater management; and to assist the above-mentioned groups in developing and promoting guidelines and policy strategies for the same.

Activities

• Aquifer mapping.
• Water quality monitoring.
• Monitoring of weather parameters.
• Preparation of report.
• Publication of the report for wider sharing.
• Survey of water usage among the different user groups – domestic, commercial (hospitality industry) and agriculture.
• Publication ofreport for dissemination.
• Production of IEC materials.
• Conduct community awareness and discussion nights.
• Workshop on policy options for groundwater management.
• Preparation of document on the above mentioned policy options for Leh.
• Identification of alternative technologies for water use solutions.
• Pilot projects to test viable solutions.
• Dissemination of the results of the pilot projects.

Concrete outcomes

• Sensitisation on water issues and groundwater status through booklets, posters, documentary films, pamphlets, awareness programme and workshops.
• Mapping of aquifers, hydrology, water bodies and catchment areas in Leh town.
• Scientific monitoring of water discharge and quality of groundwater table and surface waters.
• Installation of an automatic weather station at Gonpa village to record precipitation and temperature.
• Survey on water usage patterns by domestic households, commercial units (hotels and guesthouses) and the Army.