Zanskar, May 20, 2021: Around 2700 labour came from outside Ladakh are facing an acute shortage of food and warm clothes here near village Zangla in Zanskar Sub-Division of Kargil District, said reliable sources from Zanskar. However, SDM Zanskar Sonam Dorjay counted 2245 labours at a labour camp in the village.

Sources say that the labours are accumulated by contractors associated with 126 RCC of BRO. An audio clip that seems to have initiated by a journalist circulated on social media platforms says that the labours are served food only one time a day. The labours that are mostly outsiders have no enough warm cloth to keep themselves warm in the cold climate of Zanskar.

The audio clip appealed general public to collect food and warm cloth on humanitarian basis in a “Wall of Kindness” campaign being conducted by his team.

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Considering the problem, that spread on social media, people in Zanskar today came forward on a humanitarian basis to collect food and warm clothes.

Former Councillor from Zanskar, Tashi Wangchok visited the quarantine site where he was not allowed to meet the laborers as the latter had not completed their quarantine period. The officers of the BRO, General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) have gone down towards Leh on Chadar Trek thus Wangchuk did not get a competent authority to speak with.

Quoting sources, Wangchok said that the authorities who have accumulated the labors have no enough stock of food to serve, thus, following the appeal people are collecting food items and cloth. SDM Dorjay said that the authorities have arranged food for one time.

When contacted for details, the authorities’ mobiles were not reachable, probably due to no network area. The workers that said to have come to Zanskar 15-20 days before are kept in quarantine in the cold place of Zanskar.

SDM Zanskar Sonam Dorjay said that 13 workers had tested positive for COVID-19. Three of them are serious thus admitted to hospital and 10 others are kept in isolation and other 60 labors that had come in their contact were kept in isolation in different tents.