The Army said on Monday that it has once again come to the rescue of civilians caught in snowstorms and avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir’s frontier district of Kupwara.
The Army said on Monday that it has once again come to the rescue of civilians caught in snowstorms and avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir’s frontier district of Kupwara. The region with neighbouring areas is experiencing heavy rains and snowfall at places for the past few days, throwing life out of gear in some areas.
A defence spokesperson here said that in its “earnest and selfless service” to the Kashmiri people, the Army troops launched yet another rescue operation in the vast Shams Bari mountainous range close to the Line of Control in higher reaches of Kupwara on Sunday. “Heavy snowfall along the Shams Bari and the Nasta Chhun Pass since March 10 has resulted in accumulation of four to five feet of snow on the Tangdhar-Chawkibal road. Numerous avalanches were triggered due to heavy snowfall causing the road inaccessible even on foot,” spokesperson Lt. Col. N.N. Joshi said.
He said that on Sunday evening, the Army detachment at Nasta Chhun Pass rescued a police constable Arshad Mir, who was caught in 4-5 feet deep snow near Khooni Nallah, about 4kms from Nasta Chhun Pass. Giving the details of the incident, he said that five locals had earlier during the day on Sunday embarked on foot journey towards Tangdhar from Chowkibal as no local vehicle was plying due to the accumulation of snow along the route.
However, only four of them could manage to reach Nasta Chhun Pass. “On reaching there, they informed the Army detachment that the fifth person, Arshad Mir, could not make it as he was physically exhausted near Khooni Nallah”, the spokesman said adding that the avalanche rescue team at Nasta Chhun Pass immediately sprung to action despite heavy snowfall, snow blizzard, and zero visibility.
The team on reaching the incident site found Mr Mir in critical state. “The team provided first aid and rescued him by carrying him on their back turn by turn.
Earlier on Friday, the Army troops had rescued 73 civilians trapped near the Nasta Chhun pass.
