Ladakh Lt Guv holds discussions with Sonam Wangchuk on preserving pollution-free Ladakh

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 25

In what is seen as a determined effort in preserving the pollution-free environment and building future of the region, Ladakh Lt Governor RK Mathur held discussions with world-renowned and Magsaysay Award winner native of the place, Sonam Wangchuk, on Friday evening.

Sonam Wangchuk, who inspired “3 Idiots” movie, is also known as the iceman of Ladakh. He has built ice Stupas and created artificial glaciers.

Wangchuk shared his ideas with the Lt Governor about what is called ‘Future Ladakh’.

Ladakhis, particularly those living in Leh district of the trans-Himalayan region rich in glaciers and rivers, have always been sensitive about the preservation of their environment and cautious about the impact of the pollution-injecting things.

Their sensitivities have gone up further ever since Ladakh became a Union Territory on October 31 last year.

The UT came up with the promise of industrial development and enhanced energy-generating mechanisms in Ladakh, which made Ladakhis wary about the consequences of these developments. They had also urged the Centre to ensure the environment of Ladakh was free from all sorts of pollution.

The ideas were exchanged between Mathur and Wangchuk on keeping Ladakh free of pollution and at the same time, not losing the development with their focus being on clean energy.

“During the interaction, the Ladakh government’s spokesperson said: “Best practices of energy utilisation in Ladakh and the prospects of building future Ladakh using the traditional wisdom of energy saving in tandem with technological advances in energy management.”

They also discussed issues related to water resources and the education system in Ladakh.