India’s Ladakh is in the ‘stone age’. Envying China makes life harder

Villagers suffering in the harsh climate amid poor infrastructure and a lack of electricity can see across the Indus River to development on the Chinese side

To residents, the lack of basic requirements belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party

Reading Time:4 minutes

A bus stuck on a snowy road in the Ladakh mountains. Photo: Aakash Hassan

Published: 6:00pm, 20 Jul 2020Updated: 11:33pm, 20 Jul 2020

Every evening, Urgain Chodon stares at the dots twinkling on the mountain across the river, and curses her luck. The lights are bulbs shining from the structures on the Chinese side of the border, and they fill her with sadness.

Chodon, 30, lives in Koyal, a village on the banks of Senge Zangbu, a tributary of the Indus River, which divides the Himalayan region of Ladakh into India and China. Tucked away in the rugged mountains, the village has a population of around 420 inhabitants, but lacks all the basic facilities of the 21st century. There is no electricity, no water supply. The nearest available doctor is 160km away. The roads are dusty.

Representing eight villages in the local development council, Chodon is an influential person. She is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but the condition of her area belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of her party, which has ruled India since 2014.

“Even the word development has not touched this area. We live like in the stone age,” said Chodon, who travelled to many Indian cities during her college years. “We still have to fetch water from the river.”

Life in Ladakh is tough because of its inhospitable geography and harsh weather. High-altitude mountains cover most of the region, and in some areas the temperature dips to -25 degrees Celsius in winter. Civilisation is spread out – the closest village to Koyal is 40km away and the major city and capital, Leh, is 260km west.

Leh, the capital city of Ladakh. Photo: Aakash Hassan

India’s Ladakh is in the ‘stone age’. Envying China makes life harder

Villagers suffering in the harsh climate amid poor infrastructure and a lack of electricity can see across the Indus River to development on the Chinese side To residents, the lack of basic requirements belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party

Villagers suffering in the harsh climate amid poor infrastructure and a lack of electricity can see across the Indus River to development on the Chinese side

To residents, the lack of basic requirements belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party