Avalanche warning issued; NH remains closed
State Times News
Srinagar: Five army personnel were on Saturday rescued alive after being trapped for several hours under snow in Macchil Sector along the Line of Control in Kashmir Valley, officials said.
The soldiers got trapped after the track leading to their post caved in this morning.
“All the five soldiers were rescued alive and were shifted to hospital for treatment,” an army official said.
He said the rescue operation was launched immediately after the snow track leading to the post caved in, resulting in five soldiers getting trapped.
The rescuers worked hard despite inclement weather and managed to rescue the trapped jawans, the official said.
As many as 21 persons, including 15 army men, have been killed since Wednesday due to avalanches and snowfall-related deaths in Kashmir valley.
Authorities have issued a high danger avalanche warning in hilly parts of snow-bound Kashmir Valley in view of fresh snowfall which was still continuing when last reports were received.
Meanwhile, fresh snowfall affected the air traffic at Srinagar International Airport as the bad weather forced cancellation of eight flights, officials said.
“Eight flights which were scheduled to operate after 1230 hours got cancelled due to bad weather,” an official of the Airport Authority of India told PTI here.
He said eight flights operated till 1215 hours despite rains.
The air traffic resumed at Srinagar International Airport on Friday after remaining suspended for three days due to snowfall.
After a day-long respite, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir experienced fresh snowfall which started around 1:00 PM and was still continuing.
Meanwhile, the arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only all-weather road link between Kashmir and rest of the country, remained closed for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday, choking supply of essentials to the Valley where prices of commodities have more than doubled in the past week.
“The Srinagar-Jammu road continues to remain closed for vehicular traffic in view of landslides at many places along the 294-km road. The road is slippery in certain snowbound areas,” an official of the Traffic Control department told PTI.
He said inclement weather was hampering efforts to restore traffic on the arterial highway.
The official said as soon as the road is traffic-worthy, the stranded vehicles along the highway will be cleared for movement to their destination.
However, the flight operation at Srinagar airport, which resumed yesterday after three days of suspension, was going on as per schedule, Airport Authority of India officials said.
The closure of the national highway has resulted in depleting stocks of the essential commodities the valley and steep hike in prices of essential food grains.
Divisional Administration Kashmir on Saturday issued a medium danger avalanche warning for next 24-hours for hilly and avalanche prone areas of Kashmir Valley and Kargil district.
“Medium danger avalanche warning valid for next 24-hours from 28th to 29th January, 2017 (1700 hrs) exists for avalanche prone slopes in Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Budgam, Anantnag and Kargil districts of Kashmir Division” a statement of the Divisional Administration said.
Deputy Commissioners of Kashmir Division including Leh and Kargil have been asked to take precautionary measures in their respective districts and advise people not to venture in avalanche prone areas and to keep clearing snow depositions from roof tops of their houses and bunkers to avoid damages.
