Opt on to rescue 87 people on Leh highway

Kargil, Nov 19: A massive operation has been launched to rescue 87 passengers and drivers stranded on the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway after snowfall.

Official sources said a police team, along with some officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has left Drass for Gumri to rescue 87 passengers and drivers stranded there.

They said the snared had left Srinagar two days back in 15 vehicles illegally after the highway was officially closed for the winter from November 15.

However, a vehicle turned turtle on the middle of the road at Gumri where about two ft snowfall was recorded during the past three days.

According to the sources the road from Shantan Nullah and Gumri was slipery and dangerous for undertaking the journey.

The police team had taken medicine and bread and other eatables with them for the stranded passengers, they said.

The BRO has decided to clear the snow on the highway so that the stranded vehicles could move towards Drass.

Meanwhile, the Kargil, Drass and other adjoining areas are facing acute shortage of essential commodities, particularly onion and eggs.

A UNI correspondent, who visited a number of markets in this town, was told that a number of trucks loaded with onion, eggs and other essential commodities are stranded on the highway.

The local residents alleged that the shopkeepers are selling onion and eggs at higher rates.

The local administration, however, denied that there was any shortage of essential commodities in the district.

It said enough stock of all essential commodities, including rice, Atta, Kerosene oil, LPG gas cylinders and sugar has been stored at different places in the district to meet the winter requirements.

UNI