How about creating glaciers?

No, it is not a joke. If natural glaciers are going away because of climate change, we need to create manmade ones, Sonam Wangchuk, whose work had inspired Aamir Khan to don the role in 3 Idiots, argues.

When glaciers melt they form lakes, turning them into virtual bombs that can wash away cities. By refreezing the water, we can help create glaciers that can later be used for water.

The innovator from Ladakh, who contends that local problems must have local solutions, is in the process of building proof of concepts for creating glaciers. “As we speak, we are doing that in Sikkim, Switzerland and Peru. You can help farmers, while converting the dangerous lakes into power houses,” he says.

The same lake, which would have been a bomb, could become an asset.

The opportunity, he says, is quite big. “Imagine countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Peru are spending $5 million to reduce dangers from one lake. There are over 400 such lakes in the Himalayas,” he says, when asked about the size of opportunity.

Sonam Wangchuk was in the city to address a meeting of FLO (FICCI’s Ladies Organisation) on Friday.

Reforms in education

After showing children how to deal with failures, Sonam is now working on an alternative university to provide higher education that is way different from the present university education.

“The (present) education system thinks that a 20-year-old student is incapable and immature and that his mind is to be filled with wisdom. This needs to be changed,” he argues.

This is against nature, which expects people to face real situations and challenges and address them. “This is missing in cities and this leads to the challenges we see in teenagers. We don’t see this in villages. What we are creating is a university that allows natural ways of learning,” he says.

“It’s not formal. The courses could range from two-hour courses to two years. We are getting good response from people on this model. For a mountainous region, we need a different kind of university. For others, it would be different. It depends on the local context,” he points out.