Sonam Wangchuk (File)
– Photo : Agency
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Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday announced that he will begin a 28-day fast on Independence Day if the government does not invite Ladakh authorities for talks on demands of statehood and constitutional protection for the Union Territory. In an interview to PTI, Wangchuk said the apex body, Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) from Leh (ABL) and Ladakh, submitted a memorandum of demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Drass on the occasion of the 25th anniversary.
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Sonam Wangchuk said, ‘We did not want to put too much pressure on the government during the elections. We wanted to give them some relief after the elections. We hoped that the new government would take some concrete steps.’ He said, ‘We hope that after submitting the memorandum, they will invite our leaders for talks. If this does not happen, we will start another round of protests from August 15.’
He said he will begin a 28-day fast on August 15, when the country celebrates its 78th Independence Day. Wangchuk claimed the government withdrew its promise of granting tribal area status and full statehood to Ladakh under pressure from “industrialists who want to exploit the resources” of the ecologically fragile region. Sonam Wangchuk claimed land in Ladakh was being allotted for solar power projects without the consent of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).
He said, ‘The powers of LAHDC are being weakened and approvals are being issued from above. This is why the people of Ladakh are scared.’ With about 320 clear sunny days a year and an average daily global solar radiation of 2022 kWh/m sq/year, Ladakh is a solar power generation hotspot in India. The cold desert also has the potential to generate 35 GW from solar power and 100 GW from wind power.
Wangchuk said he is in favour of clean energy, but it should be done in a proper manner. He said just because it is solar energy, it should not be taken at the cost of the survival of local people and wildlife. We cannot take away their grazing land. The environmentalist said the Modi government made many big announcements to tackle climate change, but nothing much happened on the ground.
