Villagers in Spiti oppose gypsum mining survey
Villagers of Gue, a small hamlet situated close to the China border in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti, are opposing the survey being conducted by the Geological Survey of India to assess the quality of gypsum – a mineral used in manufacturing fertilisers and cement, besides cosmetic products.
Gypsum deposits have been found on the border of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh, which are being researched by the northern wing of the Geological Survey of India. Earlier in 1990, the department of industry’s geological wing had also conducted research to detect gypsum. Stocks of gypsum accumulations have been assessed at four million tonnes in the area.
The geological survey’s team has been researching gypsum for the last two years and trying to find out how much quantity is available in the stock found in the mountains of Gue village. The work of drilling is being done to ascertain the storage and quality of the mineral. If the quality of gypsum is found to be good on economic basis, then government plans to auction the site. Villagers have opposed the government’s move to conduct a survey and later lease out the sites to private companies. They fear that the exploration of gypsum would harm the fragile economy and pose threat to their culture. “We all are against the mining as in the long run, it will have an adverse impact on the ecology as well as our culture. Already, villages here have been depopulated due to lack of facilities. We have submitted a memorandum to the government,” said Tenzin, Hurling village lambardaar. “If the mining activities
Villagers had approached me, demanding the mining to be stopped. I would take up the matter with the government.
RAM LAL MARKANDA, HP tribal development minister
start, outsiders will upset the culture we have preserved for long,” he added.
Gue is a small village, comprising barely 50 to 75 houses, situated at a height of about 10,000ft above the sea level. It is located between the towns of Sumdo and Tabo, around 40km away from the popular 1,000year-old Tabo Monastery. The village is kilometres away from the India-China border, where a 550-year-old mummified monk, Sangha Tenzin, is being guarded. The mummy was found during a road excavation by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in 2004.
“Mining activity has raised concerns among the villagers. They had approached me, demanding it to be stopped. I would take up the matter with the government,” said HP tribal development minister Ram Lal Markanda. The concern about mining is more among the villagers as a large tract of agricultural land has been destroyed by avalanches. Villagers have already approached the district administration, asking the government to provide more land to them to carry out agricultural activities.
The district administration has now proposed to bring Gue under the ‘Village Vibrant Programme’. “There is a proposal to develop Gue under the said programme wherein the village will be developed as a model one,” said Lahaul and Spiti deputy commissioner Neeraj Kumar.
The central government plans to open villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the programme announced in the Union budget of 2022-23.
The activities will include the enhancement of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provision of decentralised renewable energy, and support for livelihood generation.