Kargil, Oct 16, KNT: The Ladakh Administration has formally created Sankoo as a new district and notified a separate Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) for the district, marking a significant administrative reorganisation of the Kargil region.
The Revenue Department issued two notifications in an extraordinary edition of The Ladakh Gazette on Friday. Notification S.O. 284 creates Sankoo district under Section 5 of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, 1996, while S.O. 285 notifies the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Sankoo, under Section 3 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
According to the district notification, Sankoo will have its headquarters at Sankoo and comprise four tehsils—Sankoo, GM Pore, TSG and Taisuru. The notification also specifies the revenue villages falling within each tehsil and modifies Kargil district’s jurisdiction by excluding the tehsils and villages incorporated into the new district.
The notification states that the creation of Sankoo district takes effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, making the move a formal administrative measure rather than merely an announcement of intent.
In a separate notification, the administration has notified the LAHDC Sankoo for the district. The council will exercise the powers and perform the functions assigned under the relevant Act, as amended from time to time.
However, elections to the new council will be held in due course, after a formal notification is issued under Section 8 of the LAHDC Act, the second notification states.
The creation of Sankoo fulfils a long-standing demand of residents and local representatives seeking a separate district to improve administrative access and bring government services closer to people in the area.
Ladakh had earlier announced five new districts—Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Drass—taking the number of districts from two to seven. With Sankoo now formally created as the sixth new district in the reorganisation, Ladakh’s total rises to eight districts. [KNT]
