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Chandigarh, a remote village
located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet above sea level in
the picturesque Spiti Valley of Lahaul and Spiti district in
Himachal Pradesh.
(Photo:
IANS) |
Chandigarh (Himachal Pradesh): It has not been designed
by French architect Le Corbusier nor does it nestle in the
foothills of the Shivaliks. It snows here and people have even
started growing apples.
This Chandigarh is a remote village and, unlike its famous
namesake, is not located in Punjab or Haryana. It lies at an
altitude of over 10,000 feet in Himachal Pradesh, close to the
China border in the picturesque Spiti Valley of Lahaul and Spiti
district that remains cut off from the world for more than four
months a year due to heavy snowfall.
Some 320 km from state capital Shimla, it has some 15 houses, most
of them made of mud-and-stone.
Octogenarian Tsering Bodh told IANS: "After the 1962 India-China
war, the villagers of Kaurik and Lepcha (just close to the
international border) were resettled in Chandigarh by the
government of India. Since then we have been here."
He, however, could not explain how this village got the name of
Chandigarh.
The cold desert has been converted into green land. Bodh's son
Chhombel Singh said the villagers have now started planting
apples, peas and potatoes.
"Earlier, the entire area was barren. Now people have started
planting apples. It's not much use as during winter, heavy snow
damages the apple trees. But the sowing of peas and potatoes is
quite successful here," he said.
Even the government has re-greened some of the patches around the
village by planting willow trees, employing local people under the
central government's rural jobs guarantee scheme, the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Bodh said earlier Chandigarh was a centre of barter trade as
people from Tibet used to bring Chinese goods like blankets,
flasks, raw wool, herbs and leather products. They used to take
back wheat flour, rice, spices, plastic goods, farm implements and
livestock.
"Now traders from across the border have stopped coming and the
locals are no longer dependent mainly on traditional vocations for
livelihood. They have started cultivating crops and rearing
livestock," he added.
Chandigarh, lying on the highway connecting Sumdoh with Kaza, the
headquarters of Spiti, is not isolated from the winds of change
sweeping across the hills. Heating appliances, cable TV and
mobiles are common modern gadgets here.
Hurling, the place known for growing delicious apples, and Tabo,
known for a more than 1,000-year-old cave Buddhist monastery, lie
close to Chandigarh, located on the banks of the gurgling Spiti
river.
The area is populated mainly by Buddhists. The climatic conditions
of the area are harsh as much of the land falls under a cold
desert where the mercury drops below minus 20 degrees Celsius
during winter.
The entire Spiti Valley, comprising more than two dozen small,
scattered villages, is a sanctum sanctorum of ancient Buddhist
monasteries.
The valley attracts globetrotters not only for nature-based
activities but also to ancient monasteries like Tabo, Dhankar,
Gungri, Lidang and Hikkam.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
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