Earnest efforts were being made by the State government to extricate the body of Shri Arun Sharma, a trekker, from Dehra in Kangra district who died while crossing Umasi La, a pass connecting Kishtwar with Zanskar in Jammu and Kashmir.This was stated by Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh here today.
The State government has tied up with the Ministry of Defence (GoI) and requested for Army and Air-force help to extract the body.He said that the State government was having continuous dialogue with Army, Air-force and government of Jammu and Kashmir. Yesterday evening, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary had talked to his counterpart in Jammu and Kashmir for necessary assistance. In fact today itself, a letter again has been faxed to Joint Secretary Ministry of Defence, Goc-in-C Northern Command and Air Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Udhampur and our government agencies were telephonically in touch with them.The government was alive to the situation and every earnest effort was being made to extricate the body of Shri Arun Sharma, said Chief Minister.Meanwhile, an official spokesperson said that as reported by DSP Athali (J&K) Shri Pradeep, two teams of rescuers had gone to the spot despite inclement weather conditions.