Four police posts in border villages of Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Centre to take call

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, May 9

The Centre will take a call on the proposal of setting up four new police posts in the border areas of Chitkul, Namgya and Chango in Kinnaur and Sumdo in Lahaul and Spiti district after guidelines on the Vibrant Village Programme will be issued.

Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts share the 240-km border with China. There are about 48 villages located near the international border of which 36 fall in Kinnaur while 12 in Lahaul and Spiti.

Himachal had reported air-space violations by Chinese helicopters on April 11 and 20 in 2020 in the Kaurik sector followed by the Galwan incident on June 15, 2020. There is also an increased activity across the border and huge possibilities of espionage in the area. The circumstances make it imperative to step up the vigil in the areas by increasing the presence and visibility of the police force, the police said in the proposal sent to the Centre.

Police posts will check espionage and maintain surveillance over the increased activities of tourists, foreigners, traders and trackers, which become hectic during summers, the proposal sent to the Union government by the Himachal Government in September 2020 said.

Moreover, there are several unmanned ingress points which can be misused by suspects and anti-national elements as some areas in the twin districts remain cut off from the mainland during winters.

The police posts will not only serve the long pending demand of the public, but also reduce the growing threat on the China border. These will also help in averting deaths of trekkers due to inclement weather conditions, the reminder, sent by the state government in November 2021, said.

One of the key findings of the team of five IPS officers, who had visited the border villages for two weeks, was that the villages were getting depopulated due to lack of economic opportunities and most border villages had only old women left behind. On the other hand, China was building rapid infrastructure on their side and re-populating their border villages.

DGP Sanjay Kundu said the feedback was shared by the Governor with the Union Government which announced the Vibrant Villages Programme in this Budget under which the remote and isolated border villages in Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti would be developed.

Proposal sent to Centre in 2020

• Police posts will check espionage and maintain surveillance over increased activities of tourists, foreigners, traders
• These will reduce the growing threat on the China border
• These will also help in averting deaths of trekkers due to inclement weather conditions
• The state government had sent a proposal for four police posts to the Cental government in September 2020

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