As the traditional winter pastures in eastern Ladakh continue to remain out of bounds for the nomad Pashmina goat shepherds due to the presence of Chinese Army, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council’s (LAHDC) Executive Councillor (Sheep Husbandry) Tashi Namgyal Yakzee on Thursday rushed more than 5,000 quintals of feed to the Changthang area to save the valuable livestock from starvation.

Yakzee flagged off trucks carrying the subsidized livestock feed to different villages of Changthang region in the presence of Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shrikant Suse; Councillor Rong, Thinles Nurboo; Councillor Chushul, Konchok Stanzin; Councillor Korzok, Karma Namdak, and District Sheep Husbandry Officer (DSHO), Leh, Dr Tundup Namgail.

An official spokesman said that the cattle feed would be distributed to the livestock-rearing households in the Changthang region on a need basis to mitigate the shortage of pasture grazing in winter. It was informed that specially formulated goats’ kid powder was also procured to counter the mortality of lambs due to feed shortages.

This procurement showcases the proactive measures taken by the UT and District Administration to support the critical primary sector on which many households in remote areas are solely dependent for their livelihood, he added.

Shepherds of several villages in the Changthang area traditionally move their livestock to the winter pastures that are near the Line of Actual Control (LAC). However, their movement to these grazing lands has been stopped due to the presence of the Chinese army that indulged in incursion in 2020.

Top brass of the Indian Army and ITBP are holding meetings with community members of villages in eastern Ladakh to discuss the issue. One such meeting was held in Phobrang village to discuss the issue of grazing and wood collection activities in the border area. They were assured of all assistance by security forces.

A civil-military coordination conference was also organised by the Ultimate Force of the Ladakh based Fire and Fury Corps. LAHDC’s councillors of Nyoma, Korzok and Chushul and also SDM, Nyoma, ITBP and police attended the meeting in which issues related to border villages were discussed.

It is worth mentioning that hundreds of Pashmina goat rearers, particularly in more than 54 villages of the Changthang area have lost access to the winter grazing-lands and are unable to migrate to the winter pastures. Among the worst hit are the nomads of Durbuk, Nyoma, Chushul, Tsaga, Nidar, Nyoma, Mud, Dungti, Kuyul and Loma villages.