The village head of one of the last settlements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh’s Chushul said on Tuesday that in the past year at least three large grazing areas near the village have been turned into “no man’s land” or “buffer zones” after Indian troops pulled back from patrolling points in Kugrang Valley that includes patrolling points (PP) 15, 16 and 17.
Konchok Stobgais, the traditional head or nambardaar of Phobrang village, 60 km from PP-17 told The Hindu that after the Army had stopped graziers from accessing land at Ani La, Thadang Valley, and Naglungpa in the past two years. He said that with every disengagement process, the Army climbed down further, thereby ceding the space to China and creating new buffer zones.
Mr. Stobgais said graziers have lost access to around 41 km of Kugrang Valley. “Several government agencies have contacted me asking for land records; we do not possess them but that does not mean this land is not ours. Our elders have lived here for ages, they have memories. China is forcefully claiming our territory, the loss is ours,” he said, on phone from Ladakh.
