Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 23: While more than one thousand vehicles stranded on Jammu-Srinagar National highway were cleared from the road blockade at 2-3 places last night, the Army rescued two villagers trapped in flooded Ujh river in Billawar area this morning.
These two Medical department employees Manzoor Hussain, son of Nasir Ahmed, resident of Draman in Ramkote and Anil Kumar, son of Krishan Chand, resident of Mela in Hiranagar were returning from their duty at Health Sub Centre Gurha Falail when they got trapped in flooded river while crossing it on Tuesday at around 2 pm. The police, local administration at Billawar and even the SDRF team from Jammu failed to rescue these hapless villagers till last evening and they had to spend night on the river bed. They remained trapped for over 16 hours in the river. No help from IAF or through State helicopter was accorded to airlift the villagers.
In the morning Mamoon Cantt (Pathankot) based Army aviation unit led by Lt Col Jobee Phillip and Major Rohit Olhan with the help of Army helicopter rescued the two trapped villagers at around 8 am under the overall supervision of Col Ratnakar, CO of the Unit.
Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was closed due to landslides late last evening near Ramban, was cleared this afternoon and over 1000 stranded vehicles were cleared. The Army unit of Rashtriya Rifles under Delta Force provided meals and even shelter besides Medical aid to over 350 stranded passengers on the highway between Batote and Banihal. Reasi-Mahore road was also opened to traffic today as the weather improved.
Follow our WhatsApp channel