Sonamarg, May 5: The civil and Police administration of Ganderbal and Kargil districts late Saturday night evacuated 28 students who were stranded in Sonamarg and Drass for the last several days amid the closure of the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
The students were appearing in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scheduled for Sunday, May 5.
Officials of civil and Police administration from Drass and Sonamarg carried out the evacuation operation braving snow and harsh road conditions and evacuated and sent all aspirants to their destination safely.
The evacuation operation was carried out by SDM Drass Vishal Atri, SHO Drass S Namgyal, Incharge Police Post Minamarg Jigmet, and SHO Police Station Sonamarg Zahoor Ahmed.
They said that the officials from civil and Police administration had to trek at least 3 km from Drass side to receive NEET question papers that were stuck at Sonamarg due to road closure.
Since the exam was scheduled on Sunday, SDM Drass and SHO Drass ensured a timely transship of question papers from Sonamarg’s side under tight security.
SHO Sonamarg, Naib Tehsildar Gund and officials of Border Roads Organisation (BRO)’s Project Beacon came up to Dayal Nallah on the Zojila axis and from there, officials of district Kargil took it up to Zero Point from where it was taken under tight security of Police and handed over to the concerned agencies.
SDM Drass Vishal Atri told Greater Kashmir that the evacuation operation was launched by civil and Police administration given the importance of the career of students stranded due to road closure.
He said that besides the exam material, students were dispatched amid strict and close supervision.
Atri said that the BRO again connected the Srinagar-Leh National Highway after snow clearance.
He said that the decision to allow traffic would be taken on Monday after proper assessment of road conditions.
