Author: PTI
Publication: The Daily Excelsior
Date: January 19, 2004
URL: http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/04jan19/news.htm#3
Troops guarding the world's highest
battle field Siachen glacier in freezing cold conditions in Ladakh frontier
region of Jammu and Kashmir will be soon served with piping hot pre-cooked
food.
"We will be soon be providing pre-cooked
food, particularly biryani, under new food scheme to the troops guarding
Siachen Glacier and some other Kargil heights in Ladakh frontier region,"
head of Army Medical Services, Northern Command, Major General N K Manchanda
said today.
The pre-cooked foods, which are
under the testing stage in Ladakh region, have been prepared by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation, Gen Manchanda said.
The diets have been made as per
the health requirments of the jawans who stay in cold conditions and need
nutritious diet, he said.
Giving details about the food scheme,
Army Medical Services Chief said that the food is kept in a pocket powerded
by some chemical from outside in another pocket. When water is added to
the outside pocket, the food content boils up and hot food is ready to
be consumed, he added.
Milk is already being provided in
tetra bags, he said adding more change in diets for Siachen soldiers are
being explored.
Gen Manchanda said cold fatalities
in Siachen region has almost become zero with the use of most modern and
advanced medical equipment and speedy evacuation of casualities by the
authorities.
"There was no cold or pulmonary
death on 42 Kms long Siachen sector during the last year due to better
medicare facilities provide by AMS at Leh and Partappur hospitals," the
General said.
The 153-base hospital at Partappur
has been connected with Northern Command hospital at Udhampur for tele-medicining
setup to provide specialised surgical and medicinal advise in time of emergencies
through vedio conferencing, he said.
These hospitals are equipped with
hype-pressurized bags to fight cold- pulmonary attacks and enable sick
soldiers to come to a state of effective medication, he added.
Besides the level of ailments like
those of rectum and anus have also decreased due to better diets and medicare
facilities, he said. Earlier, seven out of ten jawans were suffering from
them which have now been reduced to three out of ten, he said.
Non-availability of green vegetables
and fruits for soldiers manning the posts from 19000 feet above sea level
to 23000 feet on actual ground level position on Glacier was the root cause
of anorectal disorders, the most common piles, anal fissures and fistula,
he said adding with the introduction of the new diet, the number of soldiers
suffering from them would be brought down considerably.
