Leh, July 4 -- In a first-of-its-kind initiative towards environmental protection and safeguarding Ladakh's fragile ecosystem, 100 ex-servicemen were on Saturday deployed into the Ladakh Environment Protection Force (EPF) by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.

According to a press release, the EPF personnel, comprising ex-servicemen from the Army, paramilitary forces, and Ladakh Scouts, will be deployed across ecologically sensitive areas of the Union Territory to keep a strict check on rising incidents of illegal off-roading, threatening the wildlife and harming the delicate ecology of Ladakh.

These ex-servicemen have been authorised to issue on-the-spot challans for any such violation within their designated areas.

The initiative...