Leh Rescue Operations Affected

LADAKH, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The devastating cloudburst that hit Leh and left it in a mess has become the headlines. The mountain city which is a popular tourist destination wears a desolate look and the trails of destruction are seen at every nook and corner. The army along with the police jumped into rescue and relief operations on Friday but the massive scale of destruction coupled with the inclement weather that followed the flash flood is making their task very hard. The area is likely to get heavy rainfall the weather office predicted. The rain has started since Saturday morning and this has halted the rescue work. Over 115 dead bodies have been recovered but the army personnel feel many more are still buried under the slush and debris of the collapsed houses in the city.

Omar Abdullah the CM of Jammu and Kashmir has announced an amount of 5 crore for relief victims. He reached Leh just after the army and air force officials managed to clean the airport of slush. The closure of the Leh-Manali highway has also hindered the rescue work. A K Antony the defense minister is monitoring the rescue operations and for this purpose he has held some important meetings with armed forces personnel and ministry officials.

The good thing is that all of the 3000 tourists in Leh are safe and none of them have lost their lives in the tragedy. There were 1000 foreigners in the mountain city when the fatal cloudburst took place. Army rescue teams have rescued some stranded tourists from Pangong Lake of Ladakh.