DRDO’S HELP SOUGHT TO FIND MISSING SOLDIERS IN KINNAUR

SHIMLA:THE Indian Army has sought assistance from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to trace five of its soldiers who went missing on February 20 after they were swept in avalanche near Namgia Dogri outpost along the China border in tribal Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Team of experts from DRDO was to scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, however, their movement was hampered owing to bad weather condition, an official said. Bad weather and snow blizzard have once again hampered the rescue operation. High altitudes regions of Himachal Pradesh has been experiencing intermittent snow spells since last 24 hours. The contingents of the army and Indo-tibetan border police deployed men with chain saws and drill machines to cut through thick hardened snow to retrieve the soldiers buried in snow mound for least six days, said an official in Kinnaur. A specialised team of mountaineers from Dogra scouts equipped with thermal radars was also deployed besides sniffer dogs. The avalanche was triggered on February 20 when a glacier near Namgia Dogri slid, burying six soldiers of J&K Rifles when they were on a routine patrol.

More snowfall and rain is predicted in the next 24 hours. “Weather will be mostly dry on February 28 and March 1. Precipitation will increase on March 2 and March 3,” the Met office said.