2 soldiers killed in rescue ops
As Jammu & Kashmir grapples with the fury of unprecedented floods, jawans of the Indian Army and the Air Force (IAF) are turning out to be the “real heroes” leading from the front on ground zero.
As many as 185 relief columns of the Indian Army are working in association with the civil administration to serve the distressed people. Two soldiers, including one officer, lost their lives while carrying out rescue operations.
Jawans of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF), along with specialised team of Army engineers, have been deployed along the worst-affected highways to restore connectivity in the Jammu region, particularly to ensure traffic on Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway.
The flash flood has washed away 150 km of road and 60 crucial bridges linking major towns of Jammu division.
“There has been extensive damage to all major roads at large number of locations. Manpower and major equipment have been deployed to clear breaches on various roads and remove major landslides to connect Poonch via Shahpur and restore traffic to other border areas. Major effort is underway to lay bridges over Drungali Nallah and TDR nallah for Chakan-da-Bagh where bridges have been washed away,” GOC 16 Corps headquarters lt-Gen KH Singh told reporters after conducting an aerial survey of the area.
In the last five days the Army has successfully evacuated more than 11,500 people to safer places. It has also provided food, shelter and medicines to more than 5,000 people of the State across relief camps.
IAF men have rescued a total of 850 people. Of this 401 were evacuated on Saturday. According to PRO Northern Command Col SD Goswami, 12 AN-32, four Il-76, five C-130J and two C-17 transport aircraft of the IAF have been pressed into operations to reach out to the maximum number of stranded people. On the helicopter front, a total of 26 helicopters of the IAF are operating in the region.
IAF also launched one C-17 Globemaster aircraft from Delhi to Awantipur with RAMT (Rapid Action Medical Team) on Sunday. Three C-130J Super Hercules special operations aircrafts have been pressed into service to transport boats from Pune and Gandhinagar to Srinagar and blankets (10,000) and tents (3,000) from Kanpur to Jammu and Srinagar
GOC 16 corps Headquaters lt-Gen KH Singh said,” Our biggest achievement is successful evacuation of over 3,000 civilians from marooned villages in Jammu region.” He added that the Army has established numerous medical aid posts and relief camps in Poonch, Rajouri, Thanamandi, Akhnoor and Ramban Nawapanchchi. General Singh said that challenges ahead include restoration of lines of communication, road networks, bridges and rehabilitation of displaced persons. He said that Army will continue to work closely with civil administration in all activities aimed for the people of J& K.