Grazing in East Ladakh's higher regions allowed; shepherds eye pre-2020 heights

Over the past year, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has allowed grazing activities in the higher regions of eastern Ladakh. The grazing activities involving local riboos (shepherds) were clamped down following clashes between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan area of Ladakh in 2020. The area for grazing activities has been expanded and ITBP, under its charter of border management, looks after shepherds, their huts and livestock, said officials familiar with the decision.

In 2023, grazing in Chushul was limited to Rezangla, Changa la, T Saga, Kajukonla and Parma areas. This year, it has been allowed in Goswami Hill, Gurung Hill, Yunlung, Lunang, Lungpa, Nangchalang and Yakgang, among others. The number of livestock has increased, with more than 35,000 livestock recorded this year, according to ITBP. However, shepherds are demanding that restrictions be lifted from other areas also which were available for grazing before 2020.


Lobsang Tashi, who was shepherding 850 livestock near Dungti, told ET, "Indian Army does not allow us in forward areas. Earlier, we used to graze till the front. Why are they stopping us from accessing our own land? We are not allowed near Demchok village, close to the LAC." A security personnel said:"Due to an undemarcated border along the India-China border, villagers face issues when they are denied grazing rights for their cattle."

At times, the livestock enter Chinese territories and this has been a bone of contention between the neighbouring forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). China, according to India, is in illegal occupation of 38,000 sq km of land in Ladakh and has laid claims on 90,000 sq km in Arunachal Pradesh.

The undemarcated LAC has been a constant source of tension but both the sides managed it well through protocols enshrined in the 1993 and 1996 peace and tranquillity agreements. China broke that agreement when it amassed large troops near the border, leading to clashes and eventually the killing of soldiers on both sides at Galwan in June 2020.

The face-off with Chinese forces was restricted to Sikkim and Arunachal in the past while Ladakh was generally more peaceful. In August 2021, more than 100 PLA soldiers crossed the border at Barahoti, Uttarakhand, causing damage to some infrastructure, including a bridge. The two sides clashed again in December 2022 in Yangtze near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, where troops from both the sides "exchanged blows after hundreds of Chinese soldiers transgressed into India's side", as per an official statement.