Locals demanded opening of the Galwan valley in Ladakh for domestic tourists as Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Parshottam Rupala on Monday visited villages along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh where he was given a warm welcome by the village representatives.

The Galwan valley, with its harsh climate and high altitude terrain, lies along the western sector of the LAC and close to Aksai Chin, an area of India but illegally controlled by China. The Galwan valley witnessed bloody clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops in June 2020.

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Rupala visited several forward villages and interacted with Pashmina Goat and Yak herders who are facing winter pastureland problem.

The villagers also demanded lifting of water from the Shyok River for irrigating agriculture fields.

The minister assured that soon a veterinary ambulance will be inducted into service and added that a proposal for water lifting will be prepared. The Union Minister also distributed yak shearing machines, Rebo nomadic tents made of yak hair and cattle-feed among the villagers.

Later, the minister also visited the house of Angchuk in Shayok and interacted with other herders.  Also, the Union Minister visited the house of Sonam Dolker at Chillam, who was provided with a solar power borewell under Jal Jeevan Mission. Similarly, the Union Minister also visited Sato village where he interacted with the people of Sato, Kargyam and Parma.

While interacting with the Union Minister, people demanded a craft centre and pre-fabricated nomadic huts at the village. People demanded a veterinary hospital, dairy product processing unit, development of pastureland and an exposure tour for the nomads.

The Union Minister visited the winter reserve pasture of Tashi Tsering of Sato village and enquired about the health of the yak herd. At Phobrang, the minister was given a warm welcome by the villagers of Kakjung, Phobrang and Yourgo.

In a one-to-one interaction with the villagers, various issues of Phobrang village were discussed which include pasture development, yak breeding centre, Rural Banking facilities, feral dog control programme, provision of more yak units of larger sizes, exposure tour of nomads to Central Asia, equipment and training to women SHGs of Phobrang village for value addition of Pashmina.