M A I N   N E W S

Rebuilding in Leh stares at winter and roadblock
Closure of Leh-Manali highway, labour pangs proving hurdles
Archit Watts writes from Leh

August 30
With each passing day, worries of Leh cloudburst and flashflood victims rendered homeless in the August 6 catastrophe are increasing. Despite the Prime Minister’s announcement to complete reconstruction of houses before winter begins, they still don’t know when and where they will get a house.

Reason: The Leh-Manali highway is still closed nearly one month after the catastrophe. “The work of rehabilitation is hit due to closure of this highway, as this is the most suitable route to get the construction material from the other parts of the country,” said Jigmet Takpa, Chief Relief Coordinator, Leh.

“Apart from Leh-Manali road closure, some other issues too are affecting reconstruction work to take place,” Takpa added.

Stating this, he said labourers were demanding nearly double the daily wage to begin rebuilding. “Earlier, labourers were getting Rs 200 a day, but now they are asking for Rs 350. It is impossible for us to pay them so much,” Takpa added.

Takpa said though there was another road link connecting Leh with Srinagar, but using it to get construction material will double the cost.

Giving details about the reconstruction material, Leh Deputy Commissioner T Angchok said: “As per our plan to rebuild 1,000 houses in various parts of Leh, we need at least 2,000 trucks of construction material and most of it will come from Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab.”