Bordering Jammu and Kashmir and situated at 11,000 feet above the sea level, Pangi Valley in Himachal’s Chamba district is dangerously beautiful. It is not just the remotest village in the state with poor road connectivity but also remains under snow for half of the year. The life of people there is full of hardship and in the administrative world, it is called the ‘Kala Pani posting’.
Yet, IAS officer Ritika Jindal took up the challenge and became the first officer to be stationed in Pangi as the Resident Commissioner. An IAS officer of 2019 batch and Himachal Pradesh cadre, she started work from May 1, 2023, from Pangi’s headquarter Killar, situated at 14,500 feet in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas.
It is going to be six months since then, and she is still struggling with acclimatization, but serving the people remains her priority. She took few initiatives which might seem small to people living in others part of the country, but have been a big help for the local people of Pangi.
TEMPERATURE GOES DOWN TO -25
When Indian Masterminds spoke to Ms. Jindal, she was busy with the local ‘Phool Mela’ which marks the closing of almost all official work in the region. The temperature has already gone down to 0 degree and in the coming four months (November-Februrary), it will go down to -25 degree. Due to this harsh weather and continuous snowfall, people don’t generally come out of their houses, and most developmental work is kept at hold.
Explaining this, she said, “Officially things close from 15 November but this mela is part of their culture which kind of marks the beginning of winter in the area. The rest of the months are way more colder when compared to the plains.”
In the coming days, people will prepare for the cold winter months and store grains and other edible items. Here, people only cultivate peas and potatoes while other vegetables are brought from Kullu. However, in the next few months, all supplies will be stopped due to heavy snowfall.
LIVE IN ONE ROOM WITH PETS
People spend the winters here in hardships, but still their love for nature has amazed Ms. Jindal. Many people who are affluent have migrated from here, but those who belong to the middle class or below remain and face the harsh conditions.
“In the harsh winter, most families live in one room. In the centre of this room, a Bukhaari (brooder lamp) will be lit to give them some heat. Since electricity is a big issue here, they use fuel wood for both cooking and lighting. What amazes me is that they live with their animals (cows and calves) in the same room to keep each other warm,” said Ms. Jindal, who hails from Punjab.
When asked how she is managing herself, she said that the people here have inspired her. It is an interesting place and she has seen things which she hadn’t till now. People are still using primitive methods of agriculture and animals are a great help to them. Whether it is ploughing the field or threshing, they don’t use machines but animals. She saw for the first time a local animal called Chur-Churi (hybrid of cow and yak) and how it is a saviour for the local people who use them for agriculture and treat them as house pets.
INTRODUCED LITTLE CHANGES
During her six months tenure, Ms. Jindal has focused on basic necessities of the people in Pangi. Network and electricity are a problem here. Even Ms. Jindal has to depend on power bank, solar torch and lantern, as electricity goes off frequently. So, she stared by tackling these small but major problems.
She initialized several projects, 15 sites for BSNL tower have been allocated and work on four has already commenced. For electricity, the process of land acquisition has been completed for 2 solar plants.
Till recently, the local people had to go to Udaipur for Aadhar card related work. However, now, with the efforts of Ms. Jindal, they have their own Aadhar centres. She said, “All work on the towers and solar plants will be on hold in the coming months. It can resume after the weather gets back to normal. I am sure that the next working season will be fruitful and it will make the lives of people easier.”
She also added that she has learned a lot from this posting. She is totally mesmerized to see how amid such hardships, people are living and thriving!
