In 1978, four years after Ladakh was opened to tourism, Helna Norbreg Hodge, Started the 'Ladakh Project' over the concern that the winds of change might prove too strong for the fragile roots of a culture that had developed tenaciously over the millennia in an equally fragile environment and change would need to be carefully guided. LEDeG has a Rural Building centre about 16 kms from its main office. The centre has various facilities to manufacture building materials ranging from CSEB blocks to Ferro cement roof vaults. It supplies these building materials to local construction sites. The rural building centre at Leh, has been trying to achieve quality CSEB blocks for quite some time (around two years).