Himachal For Snow Harvesting Project

The project will be established on pilot basis at Pooh in Kinnaur district

Sunil Sharma

The Union government has approved a big snow harvesting project for Himachal Pradesh for which it will release an amount of Rs. 1 crore. This project will be established at a village in Pooh area of Kinnaur district. The project will be started in the month of June by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with assistance from Manali based Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE).

The project if established successfully will be implemented in other parts of the state too. For now, the plan is to start this project on a pilot basis. The required technology needed for this project is being imported from America. Notably, until now snow harvesting system is managed in America and European countries only. Actually, DRDO carried a similar experiment in Leh-Ladakh area, which achieved partial success.

Buoyed with this partial success, Himachal Pradesh State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOST) charted out this project. Joint Director of HIMCOST Kumal Satyarthi gave presentation of this project in front of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. His presentation received appreciation and further action in this regard was initiated. The government has recently approved this project and will also grant one crore rupees for it. If emerged successful, this project can be implemented by union and state governments in other parts of the country too.

Boon For Kinnaur

Under snow harvesting project, maximum of snow will be stored in the related village during snowfall. It will be used for irrigation of apple orchards and drinking purpose during drought like conditions. No doubt world class apple is grown in Kinnaur, but it could not gain in size due to dry conditions. This situation can be countered after implementation of snow harvesting project. The stored snow will be kept under big shades made from modern and high technology imported from America. HIMCOST will carry the mapping and ground work in this project while other bigger responsibilities will be handled by DRDO Manali based SASE agency.

Based On Ski Resort Technology

Ski village, the ambitious project of state government to be established in Manali could not take shape on the ground. But call it a coincidence that a smaller project on similar technology is now finally being realised on ground in Kinnaur. This project no doubt will not attract tourists but it has potential to quench the thirst of people and fields.

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