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ladakh in focus
Current Affairs CONTINUOUS DISCONNECT
Ladakh in stone age, literally!
L
adakh is increasingly becoming a preferred summer destination for thousands of tourists from India and abroad. Leh town and some other important places in region become a hub of cultural exchanges for brief while every year. Destination is though charming but the facilities are not at near a bare minimum to offer comfort to even the local inhabitants, leave aside the tourists. In recent months, thousands of people visiting the place have gone through disappointed by the poor and inefficient services of the electricity and the telecommunications in Leh. This is indeed an embarrassment for the State Government and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council before all the guests coming from every nook and corner of the glob and the country. The services provided by the BSNL and the power development department in Leh in about two months have been frustrating, embarrassing and annoying. Every other day the internet and telephone services, particularly those of BSNL, are out of order on one account or other. Most often cited reason is breakage of Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) line due to the execution of widening of Leh-Srinagar highway. Availability of internet services is a lifeline for all tourism related business and also for thousands of domestic as well as foreign tourists, but even after days of internet disconnection and network problem with mobile phones, concerned authorities seem unconcerned. However, when it comes to the billing part of the BSNL, it doesn't spare anyone. There is literally no compensation for the loss that consumers suffer on account of an unreliable system. According to the Telecom District Manager, BSNL Leh the frequent disturbances with the internet and the mobile network are being caused partly by road widening works and partly because of floods at
some place on the Leh Srinagar road. Regretting the poor services of the BSNL, the Deputy Commissioner Leh Tsering Angchuk Leh told Epilogue that he was aware of this situation which has been causing immense inconveniences to all. “I have taken the issue with all concerned authorities at all levels for immediate redress”. The next important thing without which life in today in a city comes to a standstill is the electricity. Very disappointingly and annoyingly the power scenario in Leh in the last two months has been too depressing because people, especially in the tourism industry, had to experience frequent power cuts. Justifying the frequent power cut, the executive engineer, PDD Leh says, “A part of the machine was broken with the Martselang Hydel project. The part has to be brought from Delhi,” adding that efforts are being made to restore the machine to ensure a smooth power supply. It is pertinent to mention here that in the month of July alone Leh had many dignitaries including the Vice President of India, some Union Ministers, the Chief Minister of the State and many others coming to host national and international conferences on some important topics. They must have been aware of the difficulties being faced all people living in and around Leh. Had they been told of these problems, they would have preferred to address them first before lecturing of visions and policies for future. Henceforth, apart from their visits to the famous tourist destinations including the Pangong lake and the monasteries in Ladakh, mitigating of inconvenience being faced by the public should also be included in the agenda of all the VIPS visiting Ladakh – which seems to be missing agendas of the VIPS otherwise. -TSEWANG RIGZIN
Ladakhi girl represents India in Finland Ice Hockey Camp
A
woman Ice-Hockey player named Padma Chorol of Spituk village, who is a student of the Moravian Mission School Leh in class 9, represented India in the international Women Ice-Hockey Development camp held in Finland in July. Based on the previous performances, The Winter Sports Club Leh and the Ice-Hockey association of India had selected her to represent Indian in the camp. On her return to India, Union Sports Minister MS Gill hailed her
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performance and announced an amount of rupees 75,000 for her to successfully represent the country in an international camp. On her return to Leh on July 15, members of the Winter Sports Club, students and staff members of the Moravian Mission School, villagers of Spitik and Padma Chorol's relatives along with her parents accorded a warm reception in her honour at the Bakula Rinpochey Airport Leh.
Vol. 4, Issue 8
Epilogue, August 2010