Leh: Day 1

I just finished up a pre-interview with Jigmet Dakpa, who works in the Department of Wildlife Protection as the Conservator of Forest (Wildlife). Dr. Hussain had recommended the Wildlife Warden, Tahil Shawl, but when I called him, he was out of town, so he gave mr Mr. Dakpa’s number, and Mr. Dakpa said he could only meet today, so I rushed to get ready to meet with him. He was already meeting with a journalist/documentarian, Janki Kathayat, who was doing a few projects on climate change and wildlife in the Ladakh region. She also turned out to be incredibly helpful, so I really lucked out. They both recommended a lot of government agencies to go in town, and by the end of the interview, Mr. Dakpa even offered to give me a guide to take me around to these offices tomorrow, since they are difficult to find online.

Both of them also recommended I visit Jammu, if not Srinagar, to talk to farmers in the villages of the area, particularly right along the border. Ms. Kathayat offered her help in getting me military clearance to go there, which is unbelievable, but I’m still not sure of the safety issues. She said if I went with a local person, they would have a better sense of when there is real danger, and when not. This may be so, but she also makes “finding some farmers to talk to” sound like a simple task, when it’s been one of the most daunting of this whole project. She also looked at my release form, and said it was pretty standard, and she doesn’t have trouble getting hers signed for her documentaries. She also said there was no need to get it translated because people in Ladakh speak better English than they do Hindi. Their native languages are too varied for translation into all of them. So that’s good news—no translation needed. Whew!

In Jammu, specifically, Ms. K particularly suggested visiting Joria, Lacampur, Callor, Undamphus. Not sure of spellings of any of these. Joria is very agricultural. Also look into the Iggo Phey canal in Ladakh. It’s nearly complete, but there’s no water for it from the Indus—here, before its tributaries dump water, it is very small. Himas. They recommended talking to the Flood Control Department, and the Command Area Development Department, which builds canals, for one thing. Meet with administrative staff as well as ministers, and as well as locals. Meet with the External Affairs Ministry in Delhi, regarding the Indus Waters Treaty. Also look into the Neemo Bandgo aachi dam project, with Mr. Sharma as the project manager. Look at Spituk, a village. Meet with the Board Development Corporation and the Board Development Department. Go to Chogiasmsar (part of the city) for these guys.
Ms. K’s documentaries: Human Invasion, about turtles in the Sunderbans mangrove system (island, very large, a few hours from Calcutta). Survival Sunderbans, about the River Lung in the valley.