Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur met Director General (DG)/ Secretary, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)/ Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Dr Shekhar C Mande; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Usha Padhee; officials from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)/Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Dr G. Satheesh Reddy on February 17 in New Delhi.

During his meeting with Dr Shekhar C Mande, LG Mathur discussed various issues, viz. the development of the leather value chain in Ladakh, plantation of high value medicinal and aromatic plants in Ladakh, development of fodder and pasture lands, harvesting technology for sea buckthorn, etc. He informed Dr Mande about medicinal plants that specifically grow at 15,000 ft height in Ladakh, especially Sanjeevani. He further informed about the study on Sanjeevani by the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) and Next Big Innovations Labs (NBIL) and the plantation of medicinal plants by the National Institute of Sowa Rigpa in Changthang for commercial purposes. Stressing the need for planting juniper sapling commercially, LG Mathur stated that the Himalayan Forest Research Institute will assist Ladakh in planting more than 1,000 saplings of juniper this year. He requested assistance in enlarging this effort.

While speaking about pashmina fodder development, LG Mathur stated the need for zinc fortification among pashmina goats because of the weight loss issues in the livestock due to the shortage of fodder.

LG Mathur requested CSIR for technologies for snow sculpting and informed about introducing sauna and ice bath in Ladakh to develop winter tourism in the region. He specified the equipment needed for sculpting from ice blocks. LG Mathur also stressed the need for technologies that can help sustain road construction even in winters. Dr Mande assured support in all these areas.

Chairman, DRDO, Dr Reddy briefed LG Mathur about projects under DIHAR that are aimed at boosting the agriculture and horticulture produce of local farmers in Ladakh. LG Mathur appreciated DRDO’s contribution in introducing methods and technologies that are suitable for the weather and topography of Ladakh.

During his meeting with Group Director, Bio-Science Group, BARC Mumbai, Dr Tapan Kumar Ghanty; Officer on Special Duty (OSD), DAE, Dr Deep Prakash and Scientific Officer/F, Food Technology Division, BARC Mumbai, Dr Bhaskar Sanyal, LG Mathur discussed the short shelf life of apricot and sea buckthorn berries and the need to introduce gamma-ray technology for improving the shelf-life of Ladakhi apricots to strive to deliver this local produce in the international markets. LG Mathur also discussed methods and technologies to overcome the damages caused by the codling moth.

LG Mathur discussed various issues with Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation, viz. internal commercial helicopter flights under Udaan scheme in Ladakh, construction of heliports, etc. He thanked the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for its airfare cap policy that has helped to maintain low rates of air tickets. He also discussed the issues faced by officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in Ladakh, including ferrying more cargo despite less fuel and the maintaining prices of air tickets. LG Mathur requested MoCA to issue an advisory to maintain air rates for Ladakh. He also discussed the ways and means to start commercial civilian flights from Kargil.