After repeated neglect and discrimination meted out to it over the years, Ladakh was always poised to achieve a major breakthrough in terms of infrastructural development after the region was granted the Union Territory status. As it completes three years as UT, the achievements reflect that it was indeed the case, with the administration leaving no stone unturned in turning the tide, in terms of connectivity, access to clean water and electricity, as well as telecommunication advances, with a dedicated Integrated Multi-purpose Infrastructure Development Corporation established by Union Government in Ladakh.
In the three years of formation of new UT, there has been a major focus on increasing internal and external connectivity through black topped and all-weather roads aided by new tunnels, bridge and top notch snow clearance mechanism, new helipads and helicopter services. Once distant from any type of mobile coverage, now the farthest corners of Ladakh have access to telecommunication networks, enabling the residents in remotest of villages to access various digital services.
The remotest of the villages in Ladakh are now provided with grid connectivity, with solar street lights bringing cheers to hundreds of residents. Clean water has long been a valued and scarce resource in the mountain desert of Ladakh and the UT administration has made gigantic efforts to ensure that Ladakhis get clean and pure water, with more than two-third of the UT now covered with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC).
In the past three years, the UT administration Ladakh has achieved a lot, which majorly includes:
- 561.56 km of new roads: Black topped, Metalled and Fair-weather roads increased from 2149.24 km in 2019 to 2710.8 km in 2022, an increase of 26%
- 10.78% increase in bridges: 102 bridges in 2019 increased to 113 bridges in 2022
- 10 times more helipads: The number of helipads in Ladakh was increased from 4 in 2019 to 42 Helipads in 2022
- 6406 new electricity consumers: Electricity consumer base increased from 53,653 in 2019 to 60,059 in 2022, an increase of 12%
- 65% increase in Mobile towers: Mobile towers increased from 344 in 2019 to 566 in 2022
- 2.68 lakh new mobile subscribers: 6.29 lakh mobile subscriber base in 2022 against 3.61 lakh in 2019, an increase of 74%
- 88% increase in VSaT concentration: VSaT concentration increased from 169 in 2019 to 317 in 2022
- 25665 households connected by Functional Household Tap connection (FHTC) and 34 villages have 100% FHTC coverage against around 3% in 2019
- Changthang Development Package of ₹129.50 crores under execution for development of nomadic region and population in border areas
- 14.35 KM Zojila Tunnel work is under progress, whereas DPRs of tunnels on major passes, ropeways and other mobility infrastructure are being prepared
- Snow clearance Machines procured for keeping passes and roads open in winters, while work on widening and upgradation of major internal Roads of Ladakh going on in full speed
- Open Synthetic Track & Astroturf football ground at Spituk Leh is ready, while a number of other sports infrastructure being raised at an expedited pace
