Thaindian News

July 10, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): All the music lovers in India were eagerly waiting for the much awaited Ladakh Confluence, one of the nation’s largest eco-friendly music festivals, which was set to start from July 15. But disappointing all the music lovers and the performers from all over the world, the Ladakh Confluence has been called off following the alleged drug and alcohol abuse.

The “Ladakh Buddhist Association’ and “All Ladakh Tour Operators Association’ opposed the music festival saying it was promoting “western culture, rock music and drugs’. Following this, Jammu and Kashmir tourism minister Rigzin Jora pulled out support.

Tsering Dorjay, the executive head of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, stated, “Last year, there was a complaint from the local groups that such promotion of illegal things can harm tourism. So, we decided to cancel the festival this year”.

However, the allegations were denied by the organizers. According to them, the confluence was aimed to help the state only as their focus was on sustainable tourism and culture.

A core team member of the organizers said, “Our festival is totally drug free”.

However, one person named Aman Chawla, who attended the festival last year, said, “Drugs were used at the festival last year but it was not so much as the locals are reporting”.

The organizers said, “We planned to conduct the Confluence drug free so we declined the sponsorship from any alcohol company”.

Now, only five days before the start of this unique festival, Ladakh Confluence was called off with a reason, which could definitely be controlled by the authorities.

As per the website, the organizers are not in a position to refund the tickets immediately. They have requested the government through written petition to reimburse the ticket money to the audience.

– Sampurn Wire