Army evacuates stranded civilians from snow-clad Gurez in JK

The Indian Army on Monday said over 160 stranded civilians, including four critical patients, were airlifted from snow-clad Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir. The evacuation was carried out by the Dawar Battalion of Snow Leopard Brigade on Sunday, Udhampur-based defence PRO Lt Col Abhinav Navneet said in a statement here. Gurez Valley along the Line of Control (LoC) is presently cut off from its district headquarters of Bandipora in north Kashmir since early November last year. The clearing of snow at Razdan Pass and on the road connecting Bandipora and Kanzalwan has already commenced and is likely to finish by April end only

On the weekend, the spokesman said Dawar Garrison of the Army received a requisition from the civil administration for evacuation of civilians stranded in winter cut off Gurez and Bandipora. "In view of the upcoming semester exams of graduation and higher secondary, the locals were anxious to return back to Gurez at the earliest. A large number of students pursuing higher studies in different parts of the country also wanted to move out to join their colleges," Lt Col Navneet said. He said additional civil medical staff was also inducted in Gurez with the help of Army to boost the preparations to fight COVID-19. The helipad controlled by the Dawar Battalion was made operational despite heavy snow cover in record time, the spokesman said, adding the Army and Air Force, in a joint effort, later evacuated over 160 civilians including four critical patients from Army helipad at Dawar and Sonarwain. The operation continued for hours till late evening, he said. He said an Army Medical team carried out screening of all civilians for the coronavirus at the helipad itself and also provided necessary administrative support in the cold weather conditions. The critically-ill patients were provided treatment by the medical team of the Dawar Battalion at the helipad before they could be evacuated by air, the spokesman said. He said an isolation ward was also set up inside the Dawar Garrison to quarantine the suspected cases.

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