Chewang Norphel known as Ice Man is an 81-year-old retired civil engineer who is up fighting the global warming and climate change in his own way by building artificial glaciers. Artificial glaciers? Yeah, that’s the mind-blowing fact!

Every day the use of fossil fuels, constructions, and many more modern lifestyles are affecting the climate of the planet on a large scale. Many are doing great work to save the world and better the climate change. People like Elon Musk who is giving the world an alternate solution to fossil burning sports cars through Tesla and also through SolarCity. De Caprio has shown the evil side of climate change through his documentary Before the Flood. Even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stood front and helped in building the largest solar power plant. Many other nations and global communities are working hard on doing great things through which they could stop the adverse effects of climate change and global warming.

But, not many know about the great hero Chewang Norphel aka Ice Man, or you could call him the mastermind behind artificial glaciers. The man who is helping the world by playing a role in resolving issues of climate change & global warming in a unique, simple, and one of the most efficient way. He is not only saving the planet but also helping millions through his artificial glaciers.

Chewang Norphel was born in 1935 in Leh to a middle-class family. He completed his high school from Amar Singh College, Srinagar in the field of science. He later received a diploma in civil engineering from Lucknow. Norphel joined as a civil engineer in the rural development department of Jammu and Kashmir. Norphel retired in the year 1995 and then joined as a project manager at Leh Nutrition Project(NGO) in 1996.

During his time in the rural developmental department, Norphel observed the water problems faced by farmers. He often felt sorry for them, but he did not have much in his hand or an idea to help them at that time. On the contrary, he lived most of his life surrounded by glaciers, beautiful nature and sure he did fall in love with them. He also knew that the glaciers were also slowly melting away and even the water was going away without much use.

Ladakh being close to glaciers, villagers try and irrigate their fields with the water from melting ice. On the other hand, the glaciers are now melting at a faster rate due to the climate change, which also increases risk in floods and other environmental issues. He believed that dams are a waste of money and also bring in environmental issues.

Norphel says that one day he noticed that a stream of water froze at a tree shade while elsewhere the water was flowing freely. That was over 30 years ago from now. To make efficient use of water, he came up with a plan of small construction checks which redirected river into a valley. That was when he came up with the idea of artificial glaciers. Although he did receive mockery and no support, Norphel never gave up. Today, he is the real savior of the planet, who feels responsible for keeping the Mother Earth healthy. Norphel started constructing the artificial glaciers at lower elevations to enable smooth flow of water during growing seasons.

Taking all these things into consideration, Norphel put his knowledge and love for the land to make a difference with artificial glaciers. Norphel built his first glacier in 2001, in a Buddhist hamlet of Sakti. People saw how effective his artificial glacier was in providing water and grabbed more lands for cultivation.

Funds from government and other cooperations have helped Norphel in working on his dream of artificial glaciers to save the planet without worrying about the money.

Norphel now has around 12 artificial glaciers working efficiently. Although Norphel has significant experience in civil engineering, he took it in an easy way. The plan of Norphel is so simple that anyone without much knowledge and just by close observation could construct one. It is also highly cost-efficient.

Norphel’s project was straightforward, and many did not understand its significance and no one really believed that it could work. Norphel accepted it as a challenge and worked it out through time and dedication. The construction of Artificial glaciers is so great that it also improves the ground water recharge. They are built with low elevations, making them easy and earlier to melt providing the necessary water for crop irrigation and domestic usage.

The biggest artificial glacier Norphel built is 1000 ft long and 150 ft wide with a depth of 4ft near Phuktsey providing water for over 700 villages.

In today’s date, Chewang Norphel is the globally recognized hero who is saving the planet through artificial glaciers. Aarti Shrivastava directed a short film on Norphel, titled White Knight which screened both in India and abroad. He received high recognition, and many environmental activists have admired him for his great work. Norphel has also been credited by India by awarding him Padma Shri in the year 2015.

A man who dreams of a well-being of the society and the planet walks through a path of thorns to make the world a better place. Chewang Norphel is the live example of that making a difference in the world through his artificial glaciers.