19-Mar-2019: Special Stamp on Ice Stupa released

Stamps are to create awareness about depleting glaciers and effect on the ecology around the Himalayas.

Over 12 villages in Ladakh have built ice Stupas this year in various villages. With the technical and material support by the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh ( HIAL) , village youths have enthusiastically participated in building the ice Stupas.

To keep motivated, this year HIAL has organized a competition among the villages on ice Stupas.

Ramon Magsaysay and Rolex award winner Sonam Wangchuk said simple living in cities only would help and allow the ecology of mountains to just survive. Global warming, ecological imbalance have caused irreparable damage on Himalayas, thus this awareness through the stamp release has been taken up.

Ice Stupas is not any celebration but a survival technique, SECMOL have developed over a period. Saving Winter water, that flows waste, in a cone shaped stupa which is not melted easily is the main idea behind it. This stupa melts slowly and serves the purpose of drinking and irrigation.

In each ice Stupa at least 30-50 lakh litres of water is saved. This is other than the naturally saved water in the slopes of mountains.