PM to virtually inaugurate key development works in Ladakh on Oct 15

JAMMU, Oct 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate key infrastructure projects including expanded Leh airport in the Union Territory of Ladakh on October 15. The dignitaries from Ladakh including Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena will join the function from Leh. The inauguration ceremony of projects, which will be performed by the Prime Minister through video conferencing from New Delhi, is scheduled for 11 AM on October 15, officials said.

Significantly, the Sub-Committee meeting for talks of the Union Home Ministry with Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) among others will also be held in Leh the same day. However, the meeting is expected to take place after the Prime Minister’s function.

Besides the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra, Kargil Hill Development Council Chairman Dr Mohammad Jaffer Akhoon, Ladakh MP Mohammad Hanifa Jan, Tashi Gyalson, former chairman Leh Hill Council, senior bureaucrats and other dignitaries will join the ceremony from Leh, the sources said.

The functions will also be held in all seven districts of Ladakh where the Deputy Commissioners, SSPs, socio-religious leaders and dignitaries will join the inauguration ceremony of major development projects in the Union Territory.

Modi will address the function after launching the projects through video conferencing.

“In addition to expanded Leh Airport, a series of other key infrastructure development projects in Ladakh are also scheduled for virtual inauguration by the Prime Minister,” the officials said, adding these projects include major roads, bridges etc. Besides, some new projects are also likely to be launched by Narendra Modi.

The state-of-the-art Leh airport, once operational, will be capable of handling up to 54 flights a day, nearly three times the airport’s current capacity. The expansion will also strengthen connectivity to Ladakh, improve passenger handling capacity and support the region’s growing tourism-related and other travel requirements. The project is part of the Centre’s broader push to modernize airport infrastructure and expand aviation capacity across the country, they added.

Constructed mostly by the BRO, the new projects scheduled for virtual inauguration by the Prime Minister will enhance road connectivity in Ladakh for the local population as well as the defence forces.

However, as far as the issues of Ladakh are concerned especially those which are being raised by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), they are being dealt by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and fresh talks are scheduled the same day when the Prime Minister will launch the projects for the Union Territory.

The MHA team will be travelling to Leh from New Delhi for the Sub-Committee meeting wherein the issues of UT-level elected body for Ladakh with legislative, financial and executive powers and implementation of parts of Article 371 will be discussed.

However, as per the officials, the Sub-Committee meeting is likely to be held in the afternoon after the Prime Minister’s function as Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra has to join the meeting.

The Centre may come out with broad contours of the UT-level body in the meeting while the LAB will submit reply to 9 queries given to it by the Union Home Ministry on structure of the body, the sources said.