Indian Army evacuates 172 stranded workers of Zojila tunnel site in Jammu & Kashmir

On January 14, Saturday, Indian Army succeeded in evacuating 172 workers stranded at the Zojila Tunnel construction site in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district. 

Issuing a statement, Army said on Sunday, "Yesterday in a major avalanche occurrence near Sarbal Nilagrar workers of the construction company got stuck. Avalanche rescue teams of Army and Ganderbal police got into action and after hours of gruelling effort, finally all 172 workers were brought to safety." 

Indian Army further said that this incident happened immediately after January 12 when due to a major avalanche two workers lost their lives in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. 

According to sources, after getting the information, the 34th Armored Regiment got into action. The evacuation process was executed according to a detailed plan made by senior Army officials, 

A senior official said, "Army pressed into effect not only avalanche rescue equipment but also avalanche rescue dogs. No effort would be spared to save the lives of the bravehearts working in the Zojila tunnel tirelessly."

Three massive avalanches hit J&K in two days

Earlier on Saturday, a landslide and an avalanche struck Dachan Marwah road in the Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir and a village in the Gurez sector of the state’s Bandipora district respectively.

No loss of lives was reported and search operations were executed while the administration deployed teams to clean the debris. The Jammu and Kashmir administration, earlier, issued an advisory for travelers not to venture at the Jammu-Srinagar highway without consulting the traffic control unit.