10 Facts About Indian Soldiers Posted At Siachen: Siachen, the highest combat zone on the globe, where a soldier dies to serve his country instead of cold waves and killer weather. For all the soldiers of Indian Army, posted on this bed of snow, it’s challenging to chase the Pakistan forces as well as to stay active in a 76km long glacier region, situated at 5400 meter altitude.
To retain at such an adverse location is challenging your own mental, physically and spiritual limits. You need to be a Super Hero, and that’s what all our Indian Soldiers are. So, let’s check out 10 Facts about Siachen Glacier you should know.
1- Under Adventure sports, mountaineers climb Siachen peaks at a time when the weather is appropriate and good. But, this is not true for our brave hearted soldiers. Our soldiers are always present at this location, whether it is a good climate or bad.
2- Siachen is the place in India, which has been the epicenter of the argument between Indian and Pakistan. Amongst three wars with Pakistan, two were the result of Siachen hostility issue.
3- The temperature in Siachen is minus 60 degrees. Not only this, there is only 10% oxygen available there as compared to the plains in the country. But, even these counts don’t affect the willpower of the soldiers.
4- There is a fear of Frostbit in Siachen. Actually, at such a height, if somehow your skin touches any steel (gun barrel in case of soldiers) for nearly 15 seconds, the steel gets attached to the skin resulting in damage of skin tissues. The disastrous result may also result into the fall of organs.
5- When a person retains for a long time at such place, numerous health issues occur. At such high altitude, physical problems like weight loss, sleeping disorder, memory loss, arises.
6- In case of any snowstorm, it may continue for 2-3 weeks. This is a big hurdle for anyone staying at such a height. One can either chase the killer storm or head towards any unexpected activity on the glaciers. The soldiers of the Army do both these tasks at a time.
7- On a yearly basis, Siachen experiences a snowfall of over 3 dozen feet. It’s just more than enough to swallow any soldier very easily. But, our soldiers without caring about their lives remain there and even perform operations in the hour of need.
8- Fresh food is rare on such location. This can be confirmed with a fact that if an apple is kept for a while, it will turn into a product as hard as a cricket ball.
9- As till now numerous lives have been registered on this battleground, a war memorial has been established on the river of Nubra. On that wall, the names of all Indian soldiers who laid their life for the country has been scripted.
10- According to the exact count, since last 30 years, 846 soldiers have been killed at Siachen. The Indian Army has made criteria that any soldier who dies at Siachen because of extreme cold climate and adverse conditions will be treated as battle casualties.
These are the scenario, a soldier need to face while being posted at Siachen. But rather than facing such roughness, inhospitable climate conditions, the soldiers devote their life to serve the country. You might find it surprising, but when in entertainment mood, they even used to play cricket. Even being the highest battleground in the world, the soldiers of Indian Army never let it be a complicated task to retain at such height and serve the nation.
GRAND SALUTE TO ALL THE SOLDIERS. JAI HIND!
