High snow betrayed Pakistanis, has now flooded the Chinese

CHANDIGARH: Chinese troops deployed at Galwan Valley are facing a challenge of a different kind. With temperatures increasing in July, the snow in the area has melted. As a result, water level of the Galwan river in Eastern Ladakh has increased. The melted snow has tumbled down the tree-less slopes and washed away some Chinese Public Liberation Army (PLA) positions, rendering a part of the PLA’s forward posture untenable, and possibly adding to the pressure to disengage and withdraw. Satellite images of the area also reveal that some recently-built Chinese roads have washed away, which is a setback for the Chinese army, according to reports. medium76889022Twenty-one years ago, during the Kargil War, the reverse had worked in the Indian Army’s favour. From the third week of June 1999 when the war was at its peak, the snow began melting at high altitudes. This caused problems for the Pakistani Northern Light Infantry (NLI) that was lodged on ridges above 14,500 feet. The Pakistanis, who would melt the snow for drinking and cooking, were left thirsty as the water from the thawing snow plunged downwards to the nullahs, which were dominated by the Indian Army’s assault troops.Water, thus, serves as a vital ingredient to battle-winning manoeuvres in high-altitude warfare, recalled Chandigarh-based Brig Devinder Singh (retd.), VSM, who led the 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik LoC sector during the Kargil War. “When temperatures rose in June, the Pakistanis saw the snow slipping away. Much of the remaining snow was hit by our artillery and mortar fire and was thus laced with poisonous cordite, phosphorous etc. So, the only snow remaining on the occupied ridgelines was left between rocks and crevices," he said. Singh said this was revealed to him during interrogation of six Pakistani prisoners of war, including Hunar Shah and Naik Inayat Ali of 5 NLI. "They told me that they dared not come down to the nullahs at night to take water because our soldiers dominated the approaches to the valleys. Shah also told me that supply lines from their own rear areas were faulty, but no senior Pakistani officer had bothered about their predicament marooned as they were on the high ridges,” he said. medium76888245Indian soldiers were better off. Col Lalit Rai (retd.), Vir Chakra, who led the 1/11 Gurkha Rifles from the front to iconic victories on Khalubar Ridge, Batalik, said, “I would make sure that wherever we were, whether in the valleys or going up for the assault, we would melt water from the snow not affected by artillery fire. But some of us did get afflicted with amoebiasis, also called amoebic dysentery, which is caused by drinking untreated water. For three years after the war, I suffered from the amoebiasis I contracted during the battle and I turned into a virtual skeleton.” A Pakistani media report in The Herald magazine in July 2000 also mentioned how water drunk by Pakistani soldiers from cordite-laced snow had led to casualties. The report named Iqbal, a 22-year-old NLI soldier, who was admitted to a Gilgit hospital after having drunk poisonous water. He died six days later due to kidney failure. Earlier, in July 1999, a Pakistani soldier speaking to Time magazine, said. "There is so much exchange of fire that you cannot eat the ice now or drink the water, which is laced with cordite. Even the streams down below the mountains are contaminated. Lots of soldiers are facing stomach problems because of this. Some Indian soldiers also faced health issues. Soldiers of the 5 PARA, who assaulted Muntho Dhalo in July 1999, suffered from blood dysentery after having to suck on ice polluted by the artillery fire.However, there was a flip side to the water war. Brig Devinder said, “Our troops had pushed forward to the LoC by traversing the nullahs by night. They would take cover by the boulders during the day when the enemy fired down upon them from the ridges. Our forward troops would defecate in the nullahs upstream. This meant that our own positions downstream, including my own Tactical Brigade HQs at Ganasok, would get water from the nullahs flowing down that contained faecal matter of our own troops! No choices, such are the vicissitudes of war!” boxcontent medium nocaption76891138Specialised clothing required due to melting snowTroops from both the Indian and Chinese sides are in need of specialised waterproof clothing for deployment alongside the river that allows them to step in the icy water of the Galwan river. "There is a need felt for specialised clothing for deployment alongside the river which has ice-cold water as the water flow has increased in the river with the rise in temperature," sources told ANI. According to reports, in this regard, the Chinese side seems to be better prepared than their Indian counterparts.Untitled Carousel 76877943