Leh ready to move on
A year after the tragedy, the people are still searching for the elusive relief
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Leh, August 4
Tsewang Narboo of Wakha village looks at his field across a seasonal rivulet and breaks into tears. About 1 acre of fertile land that fed him and his family for generations till the last year’s cloudburst is under eight-feet debris these days. And, the Ladakh administration doesn’t have money or infrastructure to get his field cleared.
It hardly gives him any strength to face the situation when told that he is not the lone sufferer and that around 250 hectares of agricultural land in Ladakh that has become unfit for cultivation like his field due to the last year’s cloudburst. The debris lay settled under the snow during winter and the summer sun baked it into a hard rock-like surface. All that time, he prayed for help, tried to do something with his shovel, but to no avail. The Ladakh administration also kept knocking at the doors of the Prime Minister’s Office for getting released Rs 133 crore for reclaiming the land lost in the cloudburst.
About 150 km away in Solar Colony, near Choglamsar, Tsering Dolma is busy cleaning willow for use in fabricating the roof of a room. This is the place where displaced victims of the cloudburst incident have been rehabilitated. Tsering Dolma was given a tent first, then she got a pre-fabricated room and now she is getting constructed another room as the Leh administration has released a compensation of Rs 2.42 lakh to her. She has now got a shelter, but has no money for the education of her children. She looks for sponsors.
Stenzin Wangmo, a young girl, has other worries. Little well off than others, her parents reconstructed the house and shops fast in the Choglamsar market. But just behind her house flows Saboo Nullah. The flow of the gentle stream was music to her ears. But last year, death flowed through it. Stenzin can’t sleep well ever since. She prays to God that nothing of that sort should happen again. She also prays to the administration to clean and widen the nullah at the earliest so that if there is a gush of water again, it can flow down smoothly.
These three persons lived miles apart, but suffered together due to the cloudburst and flashfloods of last year. A year later, they reflect on the progress made in the reconstruction of devastated Leh.
Almost a year after the cloudburst, Leh is back on its feet and is just about to move on. But to be firmly on the path of progress, it needs the Prime Minister’s Office to extend yet another helping hand, dispensing a help of Rs 407 crore.
Tourists have lent some strength to the economy, but that is mainly limited to the city of Leh. The mainstay of economy and the year-round food supply depends upon agriculture. That sector was hit the worst and would take at least yet another year, depending upon the inflow of funds, to be in a position that it was before the August 5-6 cloudburst.
Only around Rs 40 crore out of the PM package of Rs 125 crore, which included ex gratia and compensation for damaged houses, has been received so far and utilised, too. The amount received so far included Rs 25 crore for Sonam Narboo Memorial Hospital, Rs 1.25 crore for water lifting and Rs 8 crore for diesel gensets to generate 4.5 MW power daily.
The major challenge is to reclaim the lost agricultural land. Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), said around 129 hectare land was unlikely to be reclaimed. “It is covered with over six feet of debris and has become hard like rock. Another 125 hectares is inaccessible for JCB machines and has been left out for the moment,” Rigzin added.
The council roped in community leaders and motivated village panchayats and groups to clear the fields. “We are thankful to members of the JCB machine operators union who agreed to work at discounted rates. After all, it was a tragedy suffered by all,” Rigzin added.
“We were not happy taking aid and help from others. We live in extreme circumstances and the cloudburst tested our resilience. As we understood limitations of the government, we readily formed a group and cleared lot of land in our village,” said Dorji Pambar of Basgo village. This village has led the region in community service.
First Published in The Tribune dated - August 5
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