The work on India’s first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary, being set up by CSIR under Union Ministry of Science & Technology, in Ladakh’s Hanle is going on in full swing and shall be complete in over a month’s time. The Night Sky Sanctuary will attract tourists from across the world over to picturesque Ladakh and also boost astro-tourism in the region.
This was stated by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, when Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur called on him at North Block today.
This was a follow-up to the meeting held between the two in the month of September this year, when the Union Minister had announced that the setting up of India’s first-ever “Night Sky Sanctuary” in Ladakh, the Dark Sky Reserve will be completed within 3 months.
The initiative by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), the Union Territory administration, and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru aims to lower light pollution in the region for better observations and to boost the local economy by harnessing the power of astronomy.
The Dark Sky Reserve is located at Hanle, which is about 300 kilometers away from Ladakh and is part of the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. As part of the initiative, 24 astro ambassadors have been selected from a cluster of five villages in and around the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO).
The ambassadors will assist travellers coming to Hanle in order to obtain a glimpse of the Milky Way galaxy.
