Officer Among 2 Army Personnel Swept Away In Flash Floods In J-K’s Poonch

An official spokesperson said the Army personnel were crossing Dogra nallah in Surankote area when they were swept away by a strong current on Saturday.

Jammu: Two Indian Army Personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were swept away in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Saturday. Officials said the bodies of the two soldiers were recovered on Sunday from Surankote area of the border district.

An official spokesperson said the Army personnel were crossing Dogra nallah in Surankote area when they were swept away by a strong current on Saturday. While the body of Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh was fished out from the stream Saturday night, the mortal remains of Lance Naik Telu Ram were recovered on Sunday, the spokesperson said.

Paying rich tributes to the deceased soldiers hailing from Punjab, the Army said the troops were on an area domination patrol duty when the incident occurred.

“During an area domination patrol in difficult terrain of Poonch, L/Nk Telu Ram while crossing a mountainous stream got swept away due to flash floods. Nb Sub Kuldeep Singh, the Patrol leader while attempting to save L/Nk Telu Ram also laid down his life,” White Knight Corps wrote on its official Twitter account.

During an Area Domination Patrol in difficult terrain of Poonch, L/Nk Telu Ram while crossing a mountainous stream got swept away due to flash floods. Nb Sub Kuldeep Singh , the Patrol leader while attempting to save L/Nk Telu Ram also laid down his life.
GOC, @WhiteKnight_IA and… pic.twitter.com/LmeKlZXO1U

— White Knight Corps (@Whiteknight_IA) July 9, 2023

The army said the General Officer Commanding of White Knight Corps, also known as 16 corps, and all ranks salute the valiant soldiers and stand in solidarity with their families.

A defence spokesman said Naib Subedar Singh was a resident of Chabhal Kalan in Taran Taran while Lance Naik Ram was a resident of Khurali village of Hoshiarpur.

The mortal remains of the deceased would be sent to their native places in Punjab after a wreath laying ceremony, he said.

Jammu-Srinagar Highway shut for second consecutive day

Meanwhile, traffic movement on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained suspended for the second day on Sunday as authorities stepped up efforts to restore the road amid improved weather conditions.

The 270-km highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was closed for traffic on Saturday following heavy rains overnight that triggered multiple landslides and also washed away a portion of nearly 40-metre road stretch near Panthiyal tunnel in Ramban district.

The closure of the highway left over 3,500 vehicles, including those carrying Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu to Kashmir, stranded at different places.

After hectic efforts, the highway was partially opened for stranded vehicles with concerned agencies bypassing the damaged road stretch by connecting an old road alignment and clearing the debris, the officials said.

However, they said sinking of road at Chamba near Seeri and fresh landslides at Mehar and Cafeteria Morh forced the authorities to suspend the traffic once again.

Ramban Deputy Commissioner Massarat-ul-Islam, along with Senior Superintendent of Police, traffic national highway, Rohit Baskotra, and senior officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) visited the problematic spots, including Panthiyal, to inspect the ongoing works.

“Efforts are going on at war footing to ensure early opening of the highway. The damaged portion of road near Panthiyal was a temporary arrangement as work on a bridge was going on. The engineers are working on a plan to make the permanent bridge connecting T3 and T5 tunnels motorable to allow traffic through T5 tunnel bypassing Panthiyal slide,” NHAI Project Director Parshutam Kumar told PTI.

He said necessary works like filling and grading are in progress to allow traffic via the newly constructed bridge over Panthiyal nullah.

“Different agencies are working round-the-clock to ensure early restoration of the highway. We request people to know the condition of the road from the traffic department before starting their journey,” SSP Baskotra said.

He said all the pilgrims stranded on the highway are safe and are being provided all facilities.

Ajay Kumar, an engineer working with a private construction company, said they are expecting to provide an alternative road near Panthiyal tunnel by this evening.