In a setback to the Ladakh administration which has been planning to allow tourists to visit villages close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have expressed reservations to allow tourism in Galwan Valley areas which witnessed clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in June 2020.
The Tourism Department of Ladakh has been pushing for allowing tourists in many villages along the LAC and the Line of Control as the tourist season has just begun. The administration has been trying to convince the Army to allow tourists in some areas of Galwan Valley.
Though the Army and the ITBP have expressed reservations to allow tourism in Galwan Valley, they are open for further discussion. —A tourism official
In March this year, local residents had requested Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, to work towards opening the Galwan Valley for domestic tourists. The department had also urged Ladakh-based 14 Corps to open other places, including Mushkoh Valley, in Drass close to the LoC and Gogra-Hot Springs close to the LAC.
It has reliably been learnt that Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Ladakh, visited areas close to the LAC during a four-day tour recently and interacted with officials of the ITBP and the Army. He also visited Nubra Valley.
In Galwan Valley, Khan discussed with the Army, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the ITBP regarding opening of border areas up to Daulat Beg Oldie. An official said, “Khan had a first-hand experience of the challenges expected to surface in case this area is opened for tourism. It is felt that further consultations are required for opening this route.” Though the Army and the ITBP have expressed reservations, they are open for further discussion and no decision has been taken so far, a tourism official said.
“Even the department will not do anything in haste that could trouble tourists,” the official added.
Meanwhile, Khan discussed regulation of tourist movement along the Changla-Pangong Lake route in view of the ongoing widening work here.
