Srinagar, July 4 -- In a first-of-its-kind initiative to protect Ladakh's fragile ecosystem, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Saturday inducted 100 ex-servicemen into the newly created Environment Protection Force (EPF) to curb illegal off-roading and safeguard ecologically sensitive areas.
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 maintain strict checks on rising incidents of illegal off-roading, threatening the wildlife and harming the delicate ecology of Ladakh, officails saidTo strengthen the EPF, these ex-servicemen have been authorised to issue on-the-spot challans for any such violation wit...