Silent Scar: How World War II Jerrycan Sparked Clean-up of Remote Battlefield In Ladakh
A WWII jerrycan retrieved recently in Ladakh tells the story of the issue of metal waste in the ecologically fragile region.
Published : April 14, 2026 at 5:15 PM IST
Srinagar: When a pair of men recently laid hands on a metal jerrycan in the snow-clad mountains in Ladakh, it turned out to be a relic from the World War II era.
The vintage caught attention but raised deeper questions about the long leftover metal scrap in glaciers and snow-clad Himalayan peaks, where the Indian Army guards borders to keep Pakistan and China at bay.
"The retrieved rusted jerrycan was strong and had not melted in the snow. It was dropped there in 1944," said veteran army officer Colonel PS Bindra (retd), who flagged it to the Indian Army’s northern command for cleaning up the metal waste from the region’s ecologically fragile borders.
Jerrycan was first developed by Germany in the late 1930s as a 20-litre metal container to be used to transport fuel and water for soldiers. Allied forces called German soldiers 'Jerries' and named the container 'jerrycan' as they found it superior and easily stackable as compared to what they were using.
Thousands of such jerrycans have accumulated across mountains, valleys and glaciers in Ladakh. Over the years, many such cans or drums were reused for bunkers or makeshift steps by security forces on the borders.
"Logistic constraints such as a lack of roads to remote military posts in Siachen or DBO (Dulat Beigh Oldie) and hostile weather could not make it possible to retrieve the trash from these places earlier," said Colonel Bindra, who has served in the Eastern Command’s Army Service Corps. He has himself dropped cans and containers at remote posts by parachute.
Ladakh is home to strategic borders with Pakistan and China, including the world's highest military battlefield, Siachen. The glacier on the Line of Control has Indian and Pakistani soldiers facing each other and saw a military operation in 1984 wherein India took control of the strategic Saltoro heights, giving the Indian Army a tactical advantage over Pakistan, who are at a lower altitude.
Siachen is a dangerous place. The temperature drops to minus 60 degrees Celsius. The extreme weather alone has killed over 869 Indian soldiers since 1984. The last bullet on the glacier was fired in 2003 before India and Pakistan inked a ceasefire. Yet the guard has not been lowered.
During all these years, essential supplies like food or kerosene have reached the glacier in metal containers and jerry cans. They are airdropped by helicopters or carried on mules or porters. At an altitude exceeding 21,000 feet—higher than Mont Blanc (15,766 feet), the tallest peak in Western Europe—kerosene is used for cooking or boiling ice to make water.
"Since 1962, many forward posts in Ladakh remained beyond the reach of roads," said Colonel Bindra. "Supplies to troops stationed in these remote and unforgiving areas depended almost entirely on air maintenance operations by the Army Service Corps, supported by the Indian Air Force."
The use of cans was not restricted to security forces alone. For the civilian population, jerrycans were meant for collecting water from long distances. At a height of 14,500 feet, Lukung Pangong is the last village where India's border meets China in Ladakh.
Konchok Stanzin, a former Councillor from the village, recalls that around two decades ago, people would put the cans on horseback to get water after travelling long distances.
"Due to a lack of tap water, 15-20 jerry cans filled with water were carried on horseback in harsh winters from 20-25 kilometres away. Subsequently, these cans were replaced by plastic ones. They still exist,” he said.
But the practice of getting water in cans has largely vanished after the villages like Lukung got potable drinking water, Stanzin said.
Beyond harming the mountains and scarring the pristine landscape, the waste threatens people, animals and water bodies. Previously, many incidents of people and animals getting injured due to the scrap have been reported, said Tsetan Angchuk, who heads Ladakh Travel Trade Alliance, an organisation that has set eco-friendly guidelines for trekking expeditions.
"During trekking camps, 70 per cent of our operators carry LPG instead of kerosene cans. This has cut down the pollution. Also, negligence of dumping the waste like cans in mountains has declined with our strict guidelines,” he said.
During one of his Ladakh trips, Colonel Bindra concedes he saw a mule limping with stains of blood marking a trail on white snow. He found metal scrap had caused the injury.
Along the popular trekking routes, tourism stakeholders have required tourist guides and chefs to return waste. For example, trekkers and guides have to submit a security deposit to ensure the waste is not abandoned in the mountains.
"Once, chefs and guides return, the waste is weighed. If there is any discrepancy, penalties are fixed from the security deposits," said Angchuk.
Environmental experts like Ajaz Rasool warn that heavy metal ingress poses a long-term threat, as it can cause chemical pollution into the soil and glacial meltwater, potentially affecting water bodies.
After Ladakh was hived off as a separate union territory in 2019, followed by the Galwan Valley clash with China in June 2020, the region has seen rapid development of strategic roads, bridges, and tunnels to make the remotest fringes accessible. Until December 2025, over 1,650 kilometres of roads, including the world’s highest motorable road at the Mig La Pass in eastern Ladakh, situated at an altitude of 19,400 feet, have been constructed, as per official data of the central government.
The development of roads to remote forward posts has also revealed the legacy trash that was buried for decades. Now, under the helm of the Indian Army's northern commander, Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, the Army is following "reverse logistics," a move that allows empty military trucks to return with the scrap after dropping ration and essential supplies to forward camps.
Since then, according to Colonel Bindra, over two dozen trucks have returned with scrap to Leh and Karu. The scrap is slated for a transparent e-auction via Metal Scrap Trade Corporation (MSTC) Limited.
But the task to dig out rusted scrap is daunting. Colonel Bindra says incentives for porters can encourage porters to collect the scrap corroding in temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees.
"The scrap has frozen with snow and taking them out with bare hands can cause hurt or damage to people," he said, suggesting the incentivisation with monetary support from corporates under the corporate social responsibility.
"A porter can be paid Rs 10 for retrieving a can. This will motivate him to collect the waste, removing the silent scar on the ecologically sensitive zones,” said Colonel Bindra. "A similar exercise can be mimicked along borders in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim."
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