Leh limps back to normal

After five days of floods which were caused by a cloudburst, the people of Leh have started returning to their homes.

The army, Indo-Tibetan border police (ITBP), general reserve engineer force (GREF) and policemen are working hard to unclog the Leh-Manali and Leh-Srinagar highways. They are removing mounds of mud and slush that buried villages in the worst-hit Choglusmar belt.

“The Border Roads Organisation is clearing landslides and rebuilding NH-1D at various segments. The Leh-Igo and Rumtse-Manali roads have been repaired and we plan to lay eight bailey bridges on a 5 km stretch between Leh-Khalsi road.

Two bridges have been laid and we are trying to install two more,” a defence spokesman at Srinagar said. The bailey is a portable pre-fabricated bridge designed to link gaps of up to 60 metres. It takes no special tools to build but is strong enough to carry tanks.
More than 3,000 army men are working to build roads, bridges and shelters for people. Jawans have rescued tourists and locals from remote areas and shifted them to Kargil and Srinagar. “One aircraft flew out 71 injured people from Leh to Udhampur,” a defence spokesman said.

“Around 150 tourists stranded on the Leh-Manali highway are being moved to Manali and those at Lamayuru and Biamah are being shifted to Kargil. The army has contacted foreign embassies and shared information about tourists,” he said.