Rs 400 ‘green fee’ to enter Ladakh

Yangchan Dolma

Leh, February 3

Tourists, both domestic and foreigners, visiting Ladakh will have to shell out more as “environment fee” from April 1. Local tourists belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, however, have been exempted from the move.

According to a decision taken by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, the environment fee will now be charged uniformly from both domestic and foreign tourists from April 1. The Council will collect Rs 400 per person from April 1. At present, Rs 300 is collected from foreign tourists and Rs 200 from domestic visitors.

The imposition of environment fees for tourists visiting Leh district was started in 2005 in the name of green tax with the aim of promoting responsible tourism and preserving the fragile ecology of the region. A year later, the fee was discontinued till it was reintroduced in 2012.

Chief Executive Councillor of LAHDC, Leh, Sonam Dawa Lonpo said, “The revenue generated from the environment fee will be utilised to create facilities for tourists.”