China obstructs road construction in Ladakh - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

In a confrontational act, China has objected to road construction in Demchok near the Line of Actual Control in the Ladakh region of Kashmir. The work has been stopped on the road project being built under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The eight-kilometre stretch of road that was being constructed to improve road connectivity was providing employment to local residents. Demchok village is the last inhabited area before the Line of Actual Control near the Chinese border. India has a border dispute with China and despite several rounds of talks, the issue is still pending. "Around one month back villagers of Demchok informed that Chinese army has stopped construction work of a road being built by them under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Demchok village is just at the Chinese border and is our last post. These people are nomads and migrate from one place to another during summers. They take their livestock through that road. The Chinese army saying that the area belonged to them, and no road would be constructed there has stopped the construction work at the road. The road was well within Indian territory," said Chering Dorjay, chief executive councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. India disagrees with China's claims stating that apart from occupying 90,000 sq km of land on the eastern side of the border; China has also occupied 38,000 sq km of territory in Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas.