Kupwara, Feb 03 (KNO): The families and locals of Karnah and Tanghdar villages of Kupwara in this north Kashmir’s frontier district have hailed the district administration, police, army and beacon officials for ensuring the safe passage of the bodies of two elderly persons from their areas that were kept in the District Hospital Kupwara for the last few days.
The bodies of two elderly persons – Haji Qalandar Mir (65), son of Abdul Gaffar Mir, resident of Dildar Karnah and Alamdin Khattana (60), son of Abdulla Khattana, resident of Dragad Tangdhar – were kept in the mortuary of the District Hospital Handwara for the last few days due to road blockade. The families had sought assistance from the district administration to ferry back the bodies to their respective native places for last rites.
Braving the chilling weather conditions, the administration facilitated the smooth passage of the mortal remains to the respective areas by escorting the men and machinery on the snow-covered Kupwara-Karnah road.
The administration termed the overall process a challenging one, saying it was not easy to facilitate the passage of mortal remains amid more than 4 feet of snowfall to the higher reaches of Kupwara.
An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the bodies of two persons were dispatched during afternoon hours towards their native places, after remaining at district hospital Handwara's mortuary as the roads were blocked after the recent snowfall. The bodies reached at around Thursday 11 pm.
He said the bodies were escorted by the teams of the district administration including the sub-divisional magistrates of Tanghdar and Karnah, police, army and beacon, besides other volunteers who ensured safe passage.
"The whole operation was full of challenges as there was a heavy downpour of about 4-5 ft snowfall,” SDM Karnah told KNO. “Since this was the season’s heavy snowfall and there remains an avalanche threat, that's why it took days for them to facilitate bodies to their respective places.”—(KNO)