Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Wednesday reviewed the operational preparedness of the troops during his visit to the Siachen base camp and forward posts. Siachen glacier is the world’s highest battlefield.
Pande reached Leh on Tuesday, sources said here on Wednesday adding the Army chief visited the Siachen Glacier, at a height of around 20,000 ft in the Karakoram range, is known as the highest militarised zone in the world. Avalanches and landslides are common at the glacier during the winters and temperatures can drop to as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.
The glacier extends to 76 kilometres in the Karakoram ranges, and the sub-zero temperatures and frequent avalanches are the greatest challenges for human survival here. More than 800 Indian troops have died since Operation Meghdoot commenced in 1984.
The Indian army was deployed there as part of Operation Meghdoot on April 13, 1984 to secure the Siachen Glacier, which was important from a strategic point of view since the glacier shares boundaries with Pakistan and China.
The Indian Army is guarding the key passes and ridges along the Glacier, the frozen frontier, in a high state of operational preparedness with highly determined and motivated troops and state-of-the-art equipment to deal with the challenges posed by extreme weather.
Incidentally, the Indian Army celebrated the 39th Siachen Day this year and on the occasion the commander of Siachen Brigade laid a wreath on behalf of the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Fire and Fury Corps, and paid rich tributes to the war heroes at the Siachen War Memorial, Base Camp, to commemorate the courage and fortitude of the brave-hearts guarding Siachen.
Every year on April 13, the Siachen Warriors celebrate Siachen Day.
Moreover, last month, the Indian army with the help of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL)achieved a rare feat of establishing a mobile tower and base transceiver station(BT)at the Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield. It provides mobile connectivity to the soldiers posted there at an altitude of over 15,000 feet.
The setting up of a mobile tower on the Siachen Glacier is a significant achievement, given the harsh conditions. The tower will provide soldiers with a much-needed lifeline to their families and loved ones, and it will also improve their ability to communicate with each other and with their commanders.
A base transceiver station is a radio transceiver that connects mobile devices to a cellular network. It sends and receives radio signals to mobile devices and converts them to digital signals that are then routed to other devices in the network or to the Internet.