Indus River Green Corridor Initiative in Ladakh | 26 Mar 2026

Why in News? 

Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena launched the Indus River Green Corridor Eco‑Restoration Plantation project at Spituk Pharka in Leh, Ladakh. 

Key Points 

• About: The Indus River Green Corridor is a one-of-a-kind cold desert river bank restoration project in India that seeks to build green buffers along the Indus River in the fragile high‑altitude landscape of Ladakh’s Leh region.  
  • Nearly 1000 saplings of indigenous species like Oleaster, Sea buckthorn were planted on the riverbank through collaborative efforts of civil administration, military, police, and local communities. 
  • 1000 saplings of Cherry Blossom and Apricot were also planted along the roadside in Leh city, aimed at enhancing the green aesthetics of the city. 
• Objectives: 
  • To restore the ecological integrity of the Indus riverbanks and enhance biodiversity in Ladakh’s cold desert ecosystem. 
  • To address pressing ecological challenges like soil erosion, desertification, and low green cover. 
  • To develop Ladakh as a sustainable and resilient environment while improving the region’s aesthetic appeal. 
• Irrigation Techniques: Adopting gravity-based solar submersible strip irrigation and drip irrigation systems, to optimise water usage in plantation and afforestation activities. 
• Ecological Benefits: Strategic plantation efforts will help reduce wind speed through shelter belts, prevent soil erosion along riverbanks, improve micro‑climatic stability, enhance oxygen levels, and support biodiversity conservation in a challenging environment. 
• Significance: Ladakh’s current forest cover stands at less than 1%. The Lieutenant Governor set an ambitious target to raise forest cover to 5% in the coming two years. 
  • It will help attain the national goal of restoring 2.6 crore hectares of degraded land by 2030. 
• Indus River:  
  • Indus (In Tibetan called Sengge Chu/‘Lion River’) is a major river in South Asia, originating in Tibet near Mansarovar Lake in the Trans-Himalaya. 
  • The river flows through Tibet, India and Pakistan and about 200 million people live in the area of its drainage basin. 
  • The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan, with the support of the World Bank