Much headway made in minimizing carbon emission
Construction, upgradation of 37 helipads in progress
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 10: An amount of Rs 5958 crore has been allocated every year to the Union Territory of Ladakh to ensure its overall development and much headway has been made in minimizing carbon emission in the cold desert region. Moreover, efforts are being made to complete the projects sanctioned under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) as early as possible.
This has been stated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its report for the year 2022-23, which highlights sector-wise achievements made in Ladakh, which is the largest Union Territory in the country in terms of area.
“From 2020-21, Rs 5,958.00 crore have been allocated every year to Union Territory of Ladakh to ensure its overall development”, the MHA said, adding “under Prime Minister’s Development Package, nine projects at a cost of Rs 21,441 crore are being implemented in UT of Ladakh. Out of 9 projects, 2 projects have been completed. Further, possibility is being explored to replace one project and remaining 6 projects are at various stages of implementation”.
Pointing towards carbon neutral initiatives, MHA said that Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract of 50 MW Solar Power Plant with Battery Storage at Phyang in Leh has been awarded to TATA Power by Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) with an estimated cost Rs 385 crore and work has been started.
“Capacity enhancement of existing Solar Photo Voltaic Plants and installation of new Solar Photo Voltaic Plants and Battery Replacement of 40 existing SPVs has been done. Major focus is on Solar Lift irrigation facility and procurement of e-buses for educational institutions to minimize carbon emission in the UT of Ladakh”, the report said.
Moreover, all Diesel Generator (DG) sets have been phased out with grid power, except in off grid areas of Nubra, Changthang and Zanskar for which work is going on to connect with grid, MHA said, adding to provide grid connectivity to Zanskar and Nubra which are running on DG sets for power, a 220 KV transmission line from Phyang to Diskit, Nubra and Drass to Padum Zanskar, has been approved under Prime Minister Development Package and work has been started.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has initiated a pilot project (1-MW) for generation of geo thermal energy in Puga, Changthang. Further, the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) is doing a pilot project of green hydrogen in Ladakh with a production capacity of 80 Kg/day and green hydrogen transportation will be started with 5 buses.
“In a step toward reducing carbon foot print in power sector, the NHPC has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs), Leh and Kargil for development of ‘Pilot Green Hydrogen Technologies’ in Leh and Kargil districts for use in mobility, transportation, heating & micro-grid, etc”, the report said.
About the air connectivity facilities in the far-flung areas of the Union Territory of Ladakh, the MHA said that construction/ upgradation of 37 helipads in both Leh and Kargil districts and two hangars for stationing of helicopters one each at Leh and Kargil are in progress.
“About 26 helipads and one hangar at Sindhu Ghat, Leh, have been completed. Under the subsidized helicopter service scheme, two helicopters are being operated by Pawan Hans Limited in various sectors of the Union Territory of Ladakh and booking has been made available through online system”, the report said.
The MHA said that under JJM, against the target of 42651 houses, 30632 (71.82%) houses have been provided Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC). Moreover, 42 villages have been covered with 100% Functional Household Tap Connection and 15 villages have been certified as Har Ghar Jal Village.
Further out of 981 schools, 854 (87%) schools have been provided with drinking water facility under the scheme and 882 (93.43%) Anganwadi centers, out of 944 Anganwadi centers, have also been provided with drinking water facility.
As per the report, during the Financial Year 2022-23, 756122 tourists visited Ladakh which include 23698 foreign tourists and 732424 domestic tourists.
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