DATE=7/1/2000
TYPE=REPORTERS NOTEBOOK
TITLE=INDIA-KASHMIR
NUMBER=5-46599
BYLINE=ANJANA PASRICHA
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: One year ago, Indian troops were engaged in a
fierce operation to recapture high mountain peaks from
Muslim guerrilla infiltrators in Kashmir.
Hundreds of Indian soldiers are now posted in these
remote mountains year-round to guard the country's
borders. Anjana Pasricha recently visited some army
camps in the Himalayan mountains of Kashmir, and
reports on the gigantic effort needed to maintain
troops on these inhospitable peaks when winter snows
cut them off from the rest of the country.
Text: I had visited the Machoi glacier -- a stark
sheet of ice spread out on the Himalayan mountains in
Indian Kashmir at a height of 5000 meters.
Indian army soldiers had pitched a camp among the
jagged peaks, and were learning how to scale the
glacier. This is part of their training for high
altitude warfare. There is no habitation for miles
around. Beyond this point, lie isolated border towns
and villages along India's frontier with Pakistan, and
more army camps.
To return to the Kashmiri capital Srinagar, I had to
travel down a narrow, winding mountain road - a part
of India's National Highway 1 A. For India
this is a srategically vital road. It is the only
surface link between Kashmir's remote border regions,
and the rest of the country.
The soldiers warned me to hurry back - or I could be
caught in a traffic jam. I thought they were joking,
and wondered how there could be a traffic snarl in
this desolate spot.
Until I turned a bend, and came upon a line of trucks
that appeared to
stretch endlessly down the mountain. Perched on the
high road, I could see hundreds of army and civilian
trucks crawling slowly up the road.
I was told they are a common sight in summer in these
mountains. They are known as the army convoys -- and
are the heart of a gigantic operation that
makes it possible to maintain troops on icy heights of
up to 6000 meters, and for people in remote
settlements to survive the harsh winter.
As soon as the snows melt by mid-May and the road is
accessible, the convoys begin to ferry supplies to the
troops, and the civilian population in the
remote districts of Kargil, Leh and Ladakh.
For six months, until the road is again buried under
snow, the convoys carry virtually every supply the
troops are likely to need in their bleak bunkers-
tens of thousands of gallons of kerosene, foodstuff,
vegetables, warm clothing, soaps, stoves and weapons.
It's known as winter-stocking.
The trucks begin their daily journey from the nearest
railhead, and can take up to a week to reach their
destination.
Army officials say sending the convoys is a mammoth
task that requires meticulous planning. The road is
called a national highway - but it deteriorates to
little more than a dirt track at points. The snow in
winter breaks the surface. Landslides leave behind
boulders. But there is little time to repair the only
surface link to the mountain posts. Supplies must be
carried as long as the road is open. In winter
helicopters only ferry essential supplies and letters
to the troops.
The road is narrow. Only a single vehicle can pass at
most points. To avoid snarls, in the morning hours,
the empty trucks return from the mountains -
and in the afternoon the traffic begins up the hills.
I was travelling in the wrong direction - and had to
halt often to make way for the convoy. The one-hour
journey takes more than four hours to complete. And
as my jeep
clung precariously to the edge of the road , I was
told accidents and breakdowns are common.
The guns may be silent across the India-Pakistan
border. But preparations for war are always on in
these mountains that are among the most volatile
regions in the world. And the operation to maintain
troops on some of the world's highest peaks appeared
as awesome as the mountains around me.
(signed)
NEB/AP/PLM
01-Jul-2000 05:56 AM EDT (01-Jul-2000 0956 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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