ABISHKAR UPADHAYA
LEH: The residents of village Thoise in Nubra valley of Leh district have reasons to smile following the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have nodded for resumption of Thoise-Leh flights to be made operational very soon by the Indian Air Force.
Resumption of the flight, exclusively for the Ladakh residents that doesn’t ferry tourists on board, was suspended during the COVID pandemic and after the requisition of the Union Territory of Ladakh, the Defence Minister agreed to resume the service in the interest and welfare of the people of the Cold Desert.
Notably, Thoise Airbase is a military airfield and small village in Nubra region of Ladakh.
Divisional Commissioner of Ladakh, Saugat Biswas tweeted, “civilian travel in IAF flights to Thoise/Leh to recommence for the civilians of Ladakh.”
The Defence Ministry on request of UT Administration has conveyed resumption of such air travel on notified fares, he wrote on Twitter further said that the services to Thoise and Leh had been discontinued during COVID pandemic.
When contacted, Biswas said, “Indeed it is good news for the people of Ladakh. The sanction has been given to operate the flight and the deliberations are in progress with the IAF authorities to make the service operational very soon.”
“The fare is yet to be fixed, which will be in public domain once the flight operation starts,” said the Divisional Commissioner adding that the flight will facilitate only the civil population of the UT and has nothing to do with the tourism sector or the tourists.
Meanwhile, office of the Lieutenant Governor, UT of Ladakh, Brig. (Dr.) B D Mishra (Retd.) tweeted, “I am delighted to inform that our request for travel of Ladakhi citizens in
@IAF_MCC aircrafts has been approved by GoI.”
“On behalf of the people of Ladakh, I thank @DefenceMinIndia for sanctioning the request of UT Admin for starting the much needed service for the people of Ladakh,” the LG office tweeted.
A long pending demand of the people of Nubra valley gets a leap ahead as the airport at Thoise sanctioned under UDAAN scheme has become functional.
“Resumption of Thoise IAF flight is a welcome step that would pave ways for a large number of opportunities to the people of Nubra region and will help in all developmental sectors of the UT,” said a local.
Thoise is about 160 km from Leh and is reached via the Khardung La mountain pass, one of the world’s highest roads used by motor vehicles.
