Ladakh advisory council maiden meeting discusses water security, pashmina development and tourism promotion

Srinagar: Lieutenant governor of Ladakh Vinai Kumar Saxena on Wednesday today chaired the first meeting of the advisory council of the Union Territory to deliberate upon the key issues of water security, agricultural sustainability, local employment, tourism promotion and heritage conservation.

The meeting also discussed other critical issues like Pashmina development, promotion of sea buckthorn, major infrastructure initiatives, and administrative reforms.

Saxena underscored the administration’s commitment to ensuring water security in Ladakh through innovative interventions such as Project Him Sarovar, which envisages the creation of water storage ponds to harness glacial and snowmelt runoff. He urged the advisory council members to come up with “out-of-the-box and innovative ideas” aimed at strengthening climate resilience, promoting tourism and creating new local employment avenues.


On the Pashmina sector, Saxena reiterated his administration’s resolve to safeguard and promote its globally renowned heritage. The administration has extended a 25 per cent subsidy to Pashmina wool growers and is targeting an increase in the Pashmina goat population to 4 lakh by next year. He emphasised that the administration is prioritising Pashmina development to ensure sustainable livelihoods for Changpa herders and position Ladakh as a leading producer of premium-quality Pashmina.

Saxena stated that the administration is also harnessing the potential of the Sea Buckthorn and informed that Ladakh has achieved a production of 2,200 tonnes of sea buckthorn this year, and that a dedicated processing plant is coming up in Nubra to add value and expand market opportunities.

The LG also stressed on glacier protection in view of the challenges of global warming, which he described as a global phenomenon requiring collective action. He stressed that Ladakh, with its fragile ecology, must adopt proactive measures to safeguard its glaciers and ensure long-term climate resilience.

Saxena said that the administration will continue to work on basic issues affecting the people of Ladakh and informed that the advisory council will meet again soon to review progress and chalk out the way forward.