Gayari
sector in Siachen is located towards North and is a disputed territory between
Pakistan and India. It remains covered under snow all the year. On 7 April
2012On 7 April 2012, an avalanche hit a Pakistani military base near the
disputed Siachen Glacier region, trapping 140 soldiers and civilian contractors
under deep snow. It is the worst avalanche that the Pakistani military has
experienced in the area.
On
29 May 2012, Pakistan declared that the 129 soldiers and 11 civilians were
dead. Initial reports indicated that at least 100 Pakistani soldiers, including
a colonel and a commander, had been trapped under an estimated 21 meters (70
feet) of snow, covering an area of 1 square kilometer. The number of people
missing was later stated to be at least 135 "at least 124 soldiers and 11
civilian contractors". No communication with any person from the base was
reported after the avalanche. A list of 135 names of those missing was later
released by the Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan Armed Forces.
An avalanche rescue operation was
quickly launched by the Pakistani military. Over 150 soldiers using
helicopters, rescue dogs, and heavy machinery airlifted from the main garrison
in Rawalpindi began searching the area for the missing soldiers and
contractors, with "a team of doctors and paramedics" standing by.
Local reports initially indicated that the operation had recovered at least 12 bodies
by the end of the day, but official reports stated that no victims had been
found, dead or alive. By 10 April,
the rescue crew had increased to 452 people, 69 of them civilians, with nine
pieces of heavy machinery pressed into service for digging out the avalanche
site, and had begun excavating five points on the disaster site in search of
victims—two with heavy machinery, two without. The teams from Germany and
Switzerland had arrived in Rawalpindi, joining the American team, which had
still not yet reached the site due to weather. A seven-man specialist team was
using life detection kits and thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to detect
any residual body warmth from those buried under the snow and debris. The
Pakistan Army released a revised list of those missing, the number climbing to
138. Snow was expected for the next two
days, further frustrating rescue efforts as the possibility of finding
survivors dwindled to next to none.
To
live on the heights, to safeguarding the country, all are just known by a soldier
living there. If the death gave a little chance to the soldiers martyred in the
accident of Gayari , then we surely inquired
that how it feels to take last breath inside the snow. Siachen has
always remained an issue to be unresolved between India and Pakistan. Both of
them are forced to have camps on these heights where life is difficult to
survive.
We
can’t pay for the precious lives of our soldiers but we can try to save more
lives. The need of the time is bilateral communication between the both countries.
Political leadership and civil society should play the role. Media should
highlight the ecological, economic and humanitarian dimensions of the conflict
for creating awareness among the masses.
