Jammu and Kashmir has stopped work on a road project under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Demchok in south-east Leh in Ladakh after the Chinese army objected. Forming the eastern boundary of Ladakh, this is the last inhabited area on the Line of Actual Control.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah confirmed to The Indian Express that an 8-km road was being constructed under the NREGS to improve road connectivity and provide employment to local residents. “We had already constructed 4 km of road when the Chinese came and asked to stop the work. We have stopped work on the road. The road was being built between the T-point and CNN-point. We have already informed the Government of India about it.”

He said the road was being constructed for the local population. “It is an inhabited area and the local villagers were building the road under the NREGS.”

Official sources said Leh Deputy Commissioner Ajit Kumar Sahu visited the area and has submitted a report to the government.

Chering Dorjay, Chief Executive Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, told The Indian Express that the NREGS road was being constructed because the local residents had been demanding a link.

“There is a nallah which is the Line of Actual Control in the area and the Chinese are so close that we can talk to them. They constructed a very good parallel road on their side, we didn’t object to that. We have a hot spring on our side where we have started a hydro-therapy centre. Villagers had been demanding a road ahead, all on our side,” he said.

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