Srinagar: All the three Army jawans who went missing after multiple avalanches hit their post in 14,000 feet high Batalik area along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kargil district on Thursday have been found dead.
The bodies of the two victims were retrieved on Thursday evening and that of the third jawan on Friday. Two others were rescued earlier, the Army said.
Elsewhere in Kashmir Valley and Kargil, which experienced days of torrential rains and unexpected snowfall during the week, five persons including a father-son duo, died due to drowning, electric shock, lightning and after being swept by avalanches.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the bodies of the dead soldiers were retrieved from the debris and that these were being sent to their respective places of residence soon. He said the “unprecedented” snowfall triggered multiple avalanches in Batalik and Kaksar areas of Kargil, and one of the Army posts was buried under mounds of snow. “While two soldiers were rescued immediately, the bodies of three others were retrieved from the debris by a team of avalanche rescue team,” he said.
He added the soldiers trapped in other incidents were, however, rescued and provided medical aid and that they are “safe and sound”.
Officials here said that five other persons died in weather-related mishaps elsewhere in Kargil and Kashmir Valley during the past two days. A youth was electrocuted and two others were injured when they came in contact with a fallen power transmission in Hamray village of north-western Baramulla district on Thursday morning. In neighbouring Kupwara, a minor girl Shabana Saleem was drowned to death in a swollen stream in Hayhama area of the frontier district, the police said. A father-son duo died after being swept by an avalanche in Kargil. A woman was struck by lightning in Rajouri district, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the authorities have withdrawn flood warning for Srinagar and some other Valley areas as the water level in Jhelum and other rivers and water bodies started receding early Friday following improvement in weather. Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department, Muhammad Hanief Lone, said that the water level in Jhelum, the main river which flows through the Valley before entering Pakistan, which had crossed the danger mark on Thursday is “decreasing fast” and that there was no need to panic.
Kashmir’s Disional Commissioner, Baseer Ahmed Khan, also announced that the water level in Jhelum and its tributaries started to recede on Friday morning after rainfall stopped last night, easing flood fears in the Valley.
While the Valley was faced with threat of flood and swelling rivers and streams set off panic buttons as the worst devastation caused by September 2014 floods is still haunting people, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, to offer all possible support in dealing with the situation.
He wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.com “Spoke to J&K CM @MehboobaMufti on the flood situation in the state. Offered all possible support from Centre in dealing with the situation.”
Ms. Mufti later during the day on Friday visited various areas in Srinagar to personally inspect the status of dewatering and administration’s response in dealing with the flood like situation. She asked I&FC department officials to patrol constantly the banks and breach spots on the Jhelum and other streams. She said, “It is a matter of satisfaction that water level in Jhelum and other streams has started receding and administration is working round the clock to bring things to normal and extend relief to people”.
She thanked the Prime Minister for the “gesture” and apprised him about the losses suffered by the infrastructure, roads and horticulture sectors due to these unseasonal rains and snow, an official spokesman here said. He added that Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, also spoke to the Chief Minister and pledged support from the Centre to the State government in meeting the challenges posed by inclement weather.
The Army here said that while the entire Valley was in the grip of a flood like situation and weather turning out to be adverse, it and civilian authorities jointly sprung into action to provide succour to the affected population on receiving distress call from low lying areas of Isthil, Chehlan and Kokernag. “The only bridge in Isthil got washed away and the locals who were in critical situation near the bridge were immediately rescued and taken to safer places and were provided required medical assistance. The team was also able to save life of six persons who got stuck in drowning of a Sumo cab that fell into the Brengi nala in Kokernag,” a defence spokesman said.
“In a separate incident an ambulance ferrying a pregnant woman to Srinagar from northern Bandipore district got stuck along Bandipore-Srinagar road near Malpura village. Army with the help of locals managed to rescue the stuck ambulance and ensure safe movement from an alternate route,” the spokesman said. He added that later the woman’s husband Abdul Ahad Khan called the area Army camp at Saderkote Balla (Bandipore) “to inform that he was blessed with a healthy boy at Srinagar’s Lal Ded Maternity Hospital and thanked Army for the initiative and timely assistance”.
