Avalanche in Ladakh; 4 dead and many others trapped

Avalanche in Ladakh; 4 dead and many others trapped

Guwahati: In a tragic incident of an avalanche in Ladakh’s Khardung La pass that took place on Friday morning, at least four have died and six others are believed to be trapped. On being aware of the incident, rescuers have rushed to the spot immediately with an attempt at saving the lives of the ones who are trapped due to the avalanche.

As there have been heavy snowfalls in Jammu and Kashmir in the past few days, the Met department had also warned of the possibility of an avalanche. Among all the states in J&K, nine are being strictly marked to be avalanche prone by the weather department and these include Anantnag, Budgam, Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil, Kulgam, Kupwara and Leh.

Apart from the people being dead and trapped due to the avalanche, there are reports of several vehicles too being trapped due to the natural calamity. The unwanted incident has got to happen despite the warning of the divisional administration which had warned people not to go out of their homes or move around the avalanche-prone areas. The locals of the particular dictatrix were also being notified to keep enough storage of food and other necessary things so that they do not get to suffer from lack of food or water after being trapped in an avalanche. The divisional administration has also set alert that there might be a disruption in surface and air connectivity during this period.

In addition to the current incident of an avalanche, the Met department has also alarmed the probability of another snow spell from January 19 to 23 as there are heavy precipitations the area. Thus, people of the state are asked to plan their vacation schedules as per the advice of the weather department.

To tackle the avalanche issue, the administration has also ensured that it keeps at least 23 snow clearance machines ready. The executive engineer of the mechanical engineering department says, “If snowfall continues and there is some substantial accumulation on roads, we will be putting the snow clearance machines into service after midnight so that the arterial roads are clear by Thursday morning.”

As Jammu and Kashmir attract a big deal of tourists in this season of the year, thousands of tourists are planning to and are already roaming around the region for its breathtaking views of the Himalayan mountains, snow-filled places and the pine forests.

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