Damaging Pangong? Ladakh hits tourists with Rs. 2 lakh fine

The Union Territory Administration in Ladakh has launched a special drive to preserve the ecologically sensitive tourist hotspots, including Pangong Lake, across the cold desert region.
To start with, the Ladakh administration has slapped a penalty of `2 lakh (`50,000 each) on four tourists for violating the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

At the same time, the Ladakh administration has launched an awareness campaign urging the tourists to practice responsible and environmentally conscious tourism while exploring the Union Territory.

According to the official sources, on June 26, the Wildlife Department of Ladakh imposed a penalty of `50,000 each on four vehicles found violating the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The offending vehicle owners belonged to Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. They were fined for driving their cars illegally into the Pangong Lake and other protected wildlife zones in Changthang and Nubra in the last few days.

The action reaffirms the administration’s commitment to protecting Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem and endangered wildlife, the officials said.
The Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena emphasised that off-road driving within or in the vicinity of protected areas is a punishable offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and warned that stringent action would continue against all such violators.

They said that while the cases of such illegal off-roading and stunts have been on the rise in recent times in Ladakh, it is for the first time that such a strict penalty has been imposed on the miscreants.

In the instant cases, all four vehicles were impounded by the officials after a thorough investigation, and the vehicles were released only after the penalty was paid, the officials said.