A delegation from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) Regional Office, Jammu, led by Regional Chief, Deepak Bansal, met with the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat on June 25.

Advisor, Dr Pawan Kotwal; Principal Secretary, Sanjiv Khirwar; and Commissioner/Secretary to the LG, L Franklin were also present.

Deepak Bansal informed the LG about HUDCO's primary objective of financing housing and urban development projects nationwide. He highlighted HUDCO's assistance of ₹5 crore for rehabilitating villages affected by the cloud burst incident in Leh in 2010. He also discussed various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by HUDCO and expressed interest in contributing CSR funds for developmental activities.

Advisor to the LG, Dr Pawan Kotwal, and Principal Secretary, Sanjiv Khirwar, emphasised the need for kid-friendly furniture in Ladakh's government schools.

LG commended HUDCO for its efforts and directed Khirwar to identify specific requirements in Ladakh's government schools and develop a comprehensive plan for HUDCO's consideration under its CSR initiatives.

In another meeting, Senior Superintendent of Police, Leh, Shruti Arora, IPS, briefed the LG on issues concerning truck drivers transporting goods on Leh-Manali and Leh-Srinagar national highways due to delays in unloading near Hall of Fame caused by ongoing construction at KBR Airport in Leh.

Shruti outlined measures being implemented to address the issue, including maintaining a register to schedule truck unloading on a first-come, first-served basis.

LG instructed Shruti to deploy two police personnel at the unloading site to ensure compliance with her directives and prevent such incidents from recurring.