Army rescues stranded family in J&K’s Sonamarg

An Indian Army unit on Wednesday rescued a family stranded after a snow storm in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sonamarg.

An Indian Army unit rescued a Bakarwal family in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sonamarg on Wednesday. The Bakarwal community is a nomadic tribe of goat herders and sheep herders.

Snowfall and snow storms in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir over the last two days have severely affected the nomads and their livestock in many parts of the region.

A Bakarwal family consisting of four young children and three adults was stranded after the snow storm near the Chhut Pass area for the last two days. An army unit patrolling in the area noticed the stranded group and approached them to enquire about their situation.

The group had already lost most of their goats and had a couple of dead livestock near their shelter. The makeshift tent they had pitched was shattered by strong winds and they had nothing left to eat.

On further investigation, it was revealed that the group had come from Nagrota and they had recently arrived there. The army unit took stock of the situation and found out that two of the young children had fever. They decided to evacuate the children along with one of the adults to the safety of the army camp while two adults stayed behind to guard the livestock.

A plan was devised to provide rations and necessary clothing for the ones who stayed behind while the rescued family members were accommodated in an area close to the company operating base.