Divisional Commissioner Ladakh Saugat Biswas visited several flood-hit villages of Khawos and Sangrah area on August 9 and took  the stock of the situation and damage caused by flash floods besides measures being taken by the administration for relief and rehabilitation.

DC, Kargil, Santosh Sukhadeve; ADC, Kargil, Tsering Motup besides senior district officers and engineers of the various engineering wings were present during the tour.

Saugat Biswas conducted an extensive tour of flood-affected villages and took first-hand appraisal of the situation, extent of damages, and the ongoing relief and rehabilitation measures for the affected families. He took stock of damages to irrigation canals and khuls, standing crops, trees, roads, and houses. 

He also interacted with the locals and listened to their grievances and issues in the aftermath of the flash flood situation. The concerned officers were asked to speed up the process of assessment of damages in coordination with the PRI members and ensure preparation of the restoration plan at the earliest.

At Sangrah, the Divisional Commissioner took an assessment of the damaged houses and the agricultural fields buried under flashflood debris. He was informed that one bridge, private houses, and agricultural fields have been damaged due to the floods. He inquired from the officers about the status of the progress of works on the excavation of the Sangrah Nallah and damage assessment works related to the Revenue Department. He was informed that electricity and drinking water supply has been restored to the village.

 It was informed that the machines of NHIDCL and the Mechanical Division are on the ground to remove the debris and boulders from the Sangrah Nallah. Further, the assessment of the damage has also been done by the Revenue Department.

Div Com Ladakh also visited Khawos village where he took stock of the assessment of the loss of property, livestock, agricultural land, and other infrastructural assets. While taking an assessment of the damage to the houses due to the floods, he was informed that 8 houses have been completely damaged, 12 severely and 19 houses have been partially damaged.

He interacted with the family members and took stock of the facilities being provided to them. 

Divisional Commissioner also visited Bodh Kharboo and Shakar Chiktan areas including Henaskote, Gongma Lungba, Yogma Lungba, Stakchey, Gomar Juk, Dachay, and adjoining villages which were affected due to the flash floods. He took on the spot assessment of the damages to agricultural lands, water supply lines, irrigation khuls, standing crops and infrastructural assets. 

At Henaskote where a flash flood has damaged the link road, Divisional Commissioner Biswas assured to put engineers on work to design a plan to avoid the damage of road due to flash flood and water in future. He also instructed the concerned officers to replace the V-Sat from the local Panchayat Ghar to the school to provide internet facilities to students.

At Yogma Lungba, the Div Com instructed the concerned departments to enhance the number of labourers to restore the irrigation khuls at the earliest possible while at Dachay he instructed the officers to engage local villagers under MGNREGA scheme to clean the accumulated mud from the irrigation khuls. 

He assured the affected families that the UT Administration is fully committed to address their issues and concerns and all-out measures are being taken to speed up the flood restoration works to mitigate their problems.