Demchok, Ladakh


Demchok, also called Parigas by China,
is a village and military encampment in the Demchok sector disputed between India and China. It is administered as part of the Nyoma tehsil in the Leh district of Ladakh by India, and claimed by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Line of Actual Control passes along the southeast side of the village, along the Charding Nullah which joins the Indus River near the village. Across the stream, less than a kilometre away, is a Chinese-administered Demchok village, spelt Dêmqog in Tibetan pinyin.

Geography

Demchok was on an old route linking Ladakh and Tibet along the bank of the Indus River, which ran mostly through plains to Lake Manasarovar approximately 300 km away.
The Line of Actual Control passes along the southeast side of the village, following the Charding Nullah upstream from the nearby Indus River. The Chinese-administered village of Dêmqog, Ngari Prefecture is 600m away, across the stream. The Indian-claimed border extends southeast of Demchok, while the Chinese-claimed border extends northwest of Demchok.

History

17th to 19th centuries

The village of Demchok was mentioned in the Chronicles of Ladakh as the boundary point between Tibet and Ladakh demarcated in the 1684 Treaty of Tingmosgang. In 1846–1847, a British boundary commission described Demchok as a village divided into two parts by a small rivulet.

Indian administration

As of 2005, the route from Demchok to Lake Manasarovar in Tibet is closed and local trade with China is prohibited, although local residents admit that clandestine trade with China had been ongoing for decades.
In April 2016, the Daily Excelsior reported that local discontent over Chinese army objections near the border resulted in demands for resettlement from Demchok. Later in 2016, the Nubra constituency MLA Deldan Namgyal reported that the Chinese military suggested to the sarpanch of Demchok "to join China rather than with India" due to the infrastructural differences across the border. Demchok residents protested after the Indian Army refused permission for the local residents to construct irrigation canals to avoid a reaction from Chinese army.
In 2019, the sarpanch of Demchok said that residents of Demchok were moving to the town of Leh due to a lack of infrastructure and jobs.

Demographics

Demchok had 31 households and a population of 78 according to the 2011 Census of India. The effective literacy rate is 42.47%. According to the sarpanch of Demchok in 2019, the village had a population of 69 people who are mostly nomads.
TotalMaleFemale
Population784335
Children aged below 6 years541
Scheduled caste110
Scheduled tribe643727
Literates312011
Workers 512724
Main workers 492623
Main workers: Cultivators550
Main workers: Agricultural labourers000
Main workers: Household industry workers202
Main workers: Other422121
Marginal workers 211
Marginal workers: Cultivators000
Marginal workers: Agricultural labourers000
Marginal workers: Household industry workers000
Marginal workers: Others211
Non-workers271611

Infrastructure

There has been a traditional road between Fukche and Demchok, which connects the village to Koyul, Dungti and beyond. But the road is in poor condiiton. Attempts to improve the road in the past are said to have raised objections from China.
A road from Chisumle in the Koyul Lungpa valley to Demchok, via the Umling La pass at a height of, was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation in 2017. It is billed as the "world's highest motorable road".
Demchok is on the list to receive mobile phone connectivity from Jio under the Universal Service Obligation Funding programme.