Kargil, June 27: Secretary, Rural Development Department, Transport, IT, S&T and DMRRR UT Ladakh, Amit Sharma toured Zanskar Sub-Division and took assessment of various developmental activities there.

During the first day of his visit to Zanskar, the Secretary Amit Sharma, who is also Arbitrator for NHIDCL Acquisition Cases for UT Ladakh, assessed various cases of road compensation related to the expansion of Kargil-Zanskar National Highway, during a meeting held at Conference Hall, Padum.

Pertaining to a particular arbitration case, the Secretary Amit Sharma said, “As an arbitrator, I shall go through the reasoning of the case and will ultimately decide it.”

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Amit Sharma also directed the NHIDCL to set-up the Arbitrator Office at UT Headquarters Leh at the earliest. He further directed the concerned officers to clear genuine cases of arbitration in Kargil and Leh at the earliest.

Highlighting the importance of five Buddhist heritage sites, Secretary Amit Sharma directed SDM to do the needful and submit requisite report on the matter so that these rare culturally rich sites can be take over for preservation by Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI) under the category of ‘protected sites’.

Amit Sharma also stressed upon the usage of more public transport buses across Zanskar and in this direction, he assured that four electric buses with four electric charge points in different spots will be installed soon at Zanskar for easy transportation of public amongst villages here.

During the meeting, the Secretary Amit Sharma also took assessment and grievances of Rural Development Department in Zanskar. He was informed about the need of cleanliness workers and expansion of labour strength for the collection of legacy waste.

The Secretary directed all concerned to ensure cleanliness and collection of waste in all the three blocks of Zanskar with dedication.

Amit Sharma also appreciated the suggestion for construction of Common Service Centres (CSCs) in various villages of Zanskar for availing maximum services through online mode without travelling far distances to district headquarters for same. Further, he was also apprised of the shortage of Junior Engineers in Rural Development Department, Zanskar towards which he assured that the needful will be done.

The meeting was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner Kargil, Suhail Ahmed; SDM Zanskar, Rumail Singh; Naib Tehsildar,Rohullah; General Manager, NHIDCL; PA to Commissioner Secretary, Ghulam Haider and Arbitrator team, besides concerned officers of Rural Development Department and other departments were present during the meeting.

Later, the Secretary Amit Sharma also visited Sheela waterfall, 10 km away from Padum and also visited a natural lake site alongwith team and suggested SDM Zanskar to harness the virgin tourism potential of this beautiful Sub-Division of Ladakh which has now direct connectivity with Leh and Manali district of Himachal Pradesh.

Pertinent to mention here that on the route to Zanskar yesterday, the Secretary Rural Development also interacted with the officers of RDD from Sankoo and Taisuru Blocks and directed them to ensure power and broadband connectivity at all the SWAN Centres set-up here in Ladakh up to the Gram Panchayat level for facilitating general public to connect with all offices via video conferencing mode.