Ladakh mountain council claims sovereignty over Point Zero after Zojila avalanche death

SRINAGAR: A day after an avalanche killed seven people and injured six others in Kargil at Zojila Zero Point at an altitude of over 11,500 feet, the Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Committee in Ladakh on Saturday accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of lax response and urged the Ladakh Union Territory government and J&K to consider Zero Point as part of Ladakh territory.Addressing a press conference in Dras, the LAHDC-Kargil MP commended the Army, Civil Administration and Ladakh Police for their swift rescue operations and recovery of bodies from the snow after the accident on Friday afternoon. However, they expressed surprise that “J&K police investigated the incident on Saturday morning.” They alleged that although J&K claimed the area as part of its territory, its administration was always slow to respond when any incident occurred there.In fact, MPs disputed Johnson & Johnson’s assertion that Zero Point, which stretches about five kilometers, falls within its jurisdiction.J&K officials insist that Zojila’s Zero Point marks the border between Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Ladakh’s Kargil district. The MPs, however, said the zero point was not the border but the point used by two branches of the Border Roads Organization (BRO) – BEACON and Vijayak, responsible for the Kashmir and Ladakh sides respectively, to conduct snow removal operations.LAHDC-Kargil CEO Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon said since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two UTs on August 5, 2019, the boundaries of Zoji La have not been demarcated and zero point falls under the jurisdiction of Ladakh.Akon said heavy vehicles should not be allowed to travel along with light vehicles on Friday and urged authorities to allow vehicular movement on the Srinagar-Kargil road only before 11 am to reduce the risk of vehicles getting caught in avalanches. “Local wisdom suggests that during March and April, the snow in Zojira begins to melt in the afternoon, increasing the risk of avalanches,” he said.While praising the BRO’s “commendable work in ensuring that Zoji La is open for the winter,” Akhnoor stressed the need for “better management and taking into account local wisdom” to prevent accidents.