In a bid to promote adventure tourism and commercial activity in the region, Ladakh, the high-altitude cold desert in Jammu and Kashmir has taken up five new routes for tourists and four trails for trekkers. The proposal, due to a long pending public demand, had been put forth before the central government by the state and the union home ministry has given a nod to it recently.
Added to it, allowing the visitors to plan more for their trips to the Ladakh district, the validity of tourist permits to traverse the added as well as the existing routes has also been extended to 15 days from seven days at present.
About Ladakh’s tourism attractions, its moonscape panorama are one of the most fascinating factors that attract tourists across the globe. For the peace lovers there are the monasteries and Buddhist culture in immense. Adventure activities like paragliding, mountaineering, trekking, skiing attract a lot of adventure enthusiasts to the coldest desert.
With the opening of new routes, the tourists will now be able to travel :-
* the Merak-Loma Bend axis,
* Chushul-Kartsangla-Mahe,
* Durbuk-Shachukul-Tharuk-Sato Kargyam-Parma-Erath-Chushul and Loma-Hanley,
* Korzok-Nurbo-Sumdo-Parangla-Kazaand,
* Agham-Shayok-Durbuk.
Most of these are isolated and difficult wind-swept routes at an elevations of 14,000 feet and above. And these can be accessible by motorbikes or fairly navigable dirt roads that on some stretches run along the Chinese border.
And for trekkers, they can take their pick from the trails of :-
* Phyang-Dokla-Hunderdok,
* Basgo-Ney-Hunderdok- Hunder,
* Temisgam-Largyap-Panchathank-Skuru,
* Saspol-Saspochy-Rakurala-Skuru.
But no trekker will be allowed night stay on any trekking route due to the safety and security reasons. Whereas, on some selective tourist routes, people will be allowed night stays.
With the PM’s development package-2015 for the state, many tourism initiatives have been undertaken in Ladakh. As per an estimation, the state has experienced 3 lakh tourists’ footfalls during the summer tourist season, this year which in turn advantaged Leh and Nubra in the north and Man-Merak areas along the
Pangong Tso lake with a visible economic boom.
The union home ministry has advised the state government to form a coordination committee at the district level, to be led by the Leh deputy commissioner and comprising officers of the Army, J&K police, ITBP and other security agencies. With a quarterly meeting, the committee will ensure smooth management and maintenance of the existing as well as the new routes.
Undoubtedly the locals are the sole beneficiaries of such developments, who are demanding for opening of more routes like this which in turn will enhance their economic status and thereby the state as well.
