Kaurik

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Kaurik
Khyuré
Village
Map
Interactive map of Kaurik
Kaurik is located in Himachal Pradesh
Kaurik
Kaurik
Location in Himachal Pradesh
Kaurik is located in India
Kaurik
Kaurik
Kaurik (India)
Coordinates: 32°05′46″N 78°40′23″E / 32.096°N 78.673°E / 32.096; 78.673
Country India
StateHimachal Pradesh
DistrictLahul and Spiti
TehsilSpiti
Area
 • Total
60.01 km2 (23.17 sq mi)
Elevation
3,690 m (12,110 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total
288
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)

Kaurik, originally Khyuré,[2][a] is a village in the Lahul and Spiti district, in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is in the valley of the Pare Chu river before its confluence with the Spiti River. Kaurik is close to the border with Tibet, the opposite side on the Tibetan side being the Tsosib Sumkyil Township (Churup Sumkhel).[7] China claims the village as part of its Tsamda County, Tibet.

Geography

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Kaurik lies in the Zanskar Range on the bank of the Pare Chu river (or Parang River). Pare Chu originates in Spiti and takes a circuitous route through Ladakh and Ngari Khorsum, finally reentering Spiti at Kaurik. It joins the Spiti River at Sumdo about 20 km to the southwest.

Kaurik is situated on a flat at an elevation of 3,690 m (12,110 ft), halfway up the ridge that forms the India–China border (Line of Actual Control) at this location. The ridge itself rises to an elevation of 4600 m above Kaurik. The closest border point is about 700 m to the east, where the Pare Chu river crosses into Spiti. There is a border post called Lepcha at this location.[8]

Across the border is the village of Churup (Tsurup), the seat of the Tsosib Sumkyil Township in Tsamda County of the Tibet region of China.

Demographics

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In 1975, landslides during an earthquake completely destroyed the village situated in Kaurik,[9][10] Largest number of survivors of Kaurik village now reside in Hurling village in this area.[11] The ruins of Kaurik are in a restricted area under Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) control.[12]

Sino-Indian border dispute

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In 1847, when the British border commission headed by Alexander Cunningham went to the Indo-Tibetan border at Kaurik, the commissioners were unobustructed till reaching that place, but were prohibited from going beyond. They faced the emissaries of the governor of Gartok sent there for the purpose of pointing out the "ancient boundary between Ladakh and the Chinese territory". (Spiti was traditionally part of Ladakh.)[2][13]

In December 1957, seven years after the Chinese annexation of Tibet, Chinese forces were said to have intruded at Kaurik, for which India lodged a protest. In 1959, after the Kongka La incident, that China raised a number of disputes regarding the mutual border, including at Kaurik.[14] However, there have been no clashes at this location till date.

During the 1990s, a joint working group of India and China held multiple meetings and exchaned maps of the "middle sector" of the border in 2000. Kaurik was identified as one of the locations where the claims of the two countries overlapped, and the disputed territory was estimated to be 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi).[15][16] It is believed that the Chinese claim extends down to Sumdo, and includes the Gue village and valley.

Transportation

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Kaurik is connected to the rest of India through the Kaurik–Sumdo Road, and from Sumdo, through two national highways—NH 5 (Sumdo-Nako-Shimla Highway) through Kinnaur district and NH 505 (Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu-Manali highway) through the Spiti River valley. The latter remains closed for 7 months due to winter snows on the Kunzum Pass (4,551 m or 14,931 ft).[17] A dual-use airstrip, 100 km to the west, is under construction, scheduled to be completed in 2024.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Other spellings: Khyuri,[3] Kyuri,[4] and Kyurik. The Chinese spelling is Chinese: 曲惹; pinyin: Qū rě. It was transliterated as "Chuje" in 1960.[5] "Churi" is another transliteration found in some sources.[6]

References

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  1. ^ District Census Handbook – Lahul & Spiti (PDF), Director of Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh, 2011, p. 110, archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2024 (The name is misspelt as "Kauirik".)
  2. ^ a b Cunningham, Correspondence of the Commissioners (1848), pp. 89–90.
  3. ^ Kaul, India China Boundary (2003), pp. 55–56.
  4. ^ Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Volume 5, Part 1, Geological Survey of India, by order of the Governor-General of India, 1865, p. 120
  5. ^ Report of the Officials (1962), pp. 4, 25–26.
  6. ^ Tibetmap sheet 3278, Tibet Map Institute, 2009
  7. ^ Spiti: Legend & lore, Spectrum (Tribune India), 10 June 2007.
  8. ^ Noni Chawla, A road trip to Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, Outlook Traveller, 29 Nov 2015.
  9. ^ Chawla, Noni (30 November 2015). "A road trip to Spiti in Himachal Pradesh". Outlook.
  10. ^ Srivastava, Lakshman Saran, "Landslides in Rock Slopes During January 19, 1975, Kinnaur Earthquake in Himachal Pradesh, India" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 10.
  11. ^ Alam, Aniket; Panta, Aman Kant; Thakur, Kesang; Chaturvedi, Neekee (2021), "Losing a Home, Finding a Nation: The Curious History of Hurling Village in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh", The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal & The Himalaya
  12. ^ Gaurav Bisht, China’s PLA resumes building border post along Kaurik in HP, Hindustan Times, 7 May 2021.
  13. ^ Kaul, India China Boundary (2003), pp. 55–56: "Thus in Spiti, it is clear, that the boundary ran along the villages of Khyuri [Kaurik], Shaktolb and Chooret.".
  14. ^ Verghese, A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia (2016), pp. 104–105.
  15. ^ Gupta, The Himalayan Face-off (2014), p. 106.
  16. ^ Sushant Singh, De-escalation process underway: 2 LAC flashpoints are not in list of identified areas still contested, The Indian Express, 4 June 2020.
  17. ^ BRO restores Sumdho-Gramphu road after seven months, The Tribune, 26 May 2021.
  18. ^ To counter China, Nyoma airfield in Ladakh to be full-fledged base in 2 years, The Tribune, 5 Jan 2023.
Sources