During the holy month of Ramadan, the inhabitants of the Kargil district of the mountainous Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh are confronting with an acute shortage of essential commodities due to the closure of the Zozila Pass. Milk, fresh vegetables, dates, eggs, mutton, and chicken are unavailable in the district, although authorities have airlifted some of these items from Chandigarh.
"Delay in the opening of Zojila Pass has created a scarcity of essential commodities, especially during the holy month of Ramadan," Chief Executive Councilor (CEC), Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil, Feroz Khan told International Business Times.
"We have already brought this matter to the notice of Lieutenant Governor Ladakh, R K Mathur for the earlier solution", he said but hastened to add that due to continuous snowfall opening of the Zojila Pass was not possible yet.
"People are not getting milk, fresh vegetables, chicken, mutton, eggs, onion, and tomatoes during this holy month", says Khan, who reviewed snow clearing exercise at Zojila Pass on Sunday. He informed that till Saturday evening there was snowfall at Zojila Pass.
Zojila Pass is Ladakh's life-line
Ladakh, known as the cold desert, is connected to the rest of the country through two main road networks - Srinagar-Zojila-Kargil-Leh and the Manali-Sarchu-Leh roads. The vehicular movement remained suspended for nearly six months every year due to snowfall and avalanches. The Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,587 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh national highway. Due to heavy snowfall during the winters, the highway remains closed from December to April, and the air is the only mode of connectivity.
2 tonnes of dates, 40 tonnes of fresh vegetables to be airlifted for Ramadan
Keeping in view the immediate requirement of dates for people during Ramadan, the CEC has directed the Deputy Registrar Cooperatives to take required measures for airlifting of 2 tonnes dates. The District administration has placed a requisition for enhancement of tonnage for airlifting of essential commodities to 40 tonnes to the Indian Air Force (IAF) through the divisional commissioner Ladakh.
Cooperative societies involved to distribute fresh vegetables
In view of the acute shortage of essential commodities, the district administration of Kargil has decided to involve cooperative societies to distribute fresh vegetables reached Kargil through the air. These societies have fixed sale centers at different places to avoid the rush of the people.
