The Hindu : National : Indian troops in Siachen ready for harsh winter

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Sunday, Nov 12, 2006
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Indian troops in Siachen ready for harsh winter

For soldiers guarding the icy peaks, it is business as usual

BRAVING HOSTILE WEATHER: Soldiers arrive at the base camp after a gruelling training session at Siachen.

Siachen Glacier: Even as India and Pakistan move towards efforts to demilitarise the world's highest battlefield, Indian soldiers on the battlefront are preparing for another harsh winter.

At the 72 km-long Siachen Glacier, the mercury dips to 60 degrees below the freezing point and the annual cumulative snowfall is 10 to 15 m.

For the soldiers guarding the icy peaks ranging in elevation from 6,000 to 7,000 m, it is vigil as usual.

"We are fighting two enemies. Weather conditions are more of an enemy than the real enemy," Commander of the Siachen Brigade Brigadier Om Prakash told visiting journalists. Apart from stockpiling boots, warm clothes, special rations such as dry fruits and juice, the soldiers are training on ice-craft, learning to operate weapons and honing survival techniques for extreme conditions. They are being trained to spend longer periods in fibreglass huts, bunkers, ice caves and ice tunnels.

"Seventy nine per cent of the posts of our brigade are located above 16,000 feet, while the Bana Post is located at... 21,753 feet," Brigadier Prakash said. In such conditions, it is difficult even to remain healthy and medically fit, combating extremes of weather and terrain. It is after an arduous climb over hard ice, which could take up to 28 days, that one reaches the glacier. "But it cannot deter the blazing spirit of the soldiers of the Indian Army who brave these extreme vagaries of inclement weather and terrain and serve with a smile," Brigadier Prakash said.

Getting inducted is a task in itself. One has to follow a multi-stage acclimatisation schedule and get used to the rarified atmosphere. This is followed by specialised training at the Siachen Battle School on various aspects of life at the glacier.

There are several ailments that soldiers serving at high altitudes are prone to: Acute Mountain Sickness, high altitude pulmonary oedema, high altitude cerebral oedema... Any sick soldiers are evacuated in special `HAPO' bags, by Indian Air Force helicopters.

"Though we have high-protein food, soldiers lose appetite. Besides, they feel lonely. So we are constantly in touch with each of them, talk with them regularly, listen to their grievances and give them support to keep their morale high," Colonel Sunil Kumar of 5 Raj Rifles said. Frequent visits by senior officers to the forward posts are important to ensure troop morale. "But despite all odds we are Ajit hain, abheet hain (we are invincible and fearless," Brigadier Prakash said. — PTI

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