Unsung heroes of Indian Army: Mules that carry supplies to forward posts on unmotorable terrain

The forward posts of the IndianArmy on the Line of Control in North Kashmir are on the peaks of the Himalayan mountains. And not all these posts are connected by road. Some also get disconnected from the rest of the valley in winter due to snowfall.

Have you ever thoughtabout how the supplies like rations, arms and ammunitionand constructionmaterialare sent to these posts? It is the Indian Army's Mules that carry all the material for months to these forward posts on top of the mountains.

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The process of sending material to these forward posts is started in the months of April- May. If these mules had not been there,it would have been very difficult for the Indian Army to carry supplies and material to the posts in the higher reaches.

''The Border Posts of ours near the line of controlare at a very high altitude and there are no roads to reach to some of them, there has been a lot of improvementin the road connectivity from the last few years. When the mountains are fully covered with several feet of snow, without these mules it's very difficult to live. These mules are the lifeline for the Indian Army as they carry all the supplies, arms and ammunition, construction and food material to these posts. We maintain these mules and we send them to different posts and areas depending on what is required where. We start the process in the months of April-May as the snow starts to melt, we carry on these tasks till the first snowfall in October-November. Any other movement during snowfall is impossible and there is only movement by helicopter services,'' said Rajesh Kumar, CO Military Field Veterinary Hospital.

These mules have been kept in the Indian Army to help carry material in areas which have no access to roads. The breeding of these mules is done in an army school and they are trained before being sent to thehigher reaches. Some in the Army call these mules the unsung heroes of the Army. Special food is given to these mules so that they stay healthy and can easily carry out the given tasks. These supplies of around 5 months are carried by these mules to these forward posts.

'These mules have been kept by the Indian Army to reach places which have no roads.The supplies are carried till the area where there is road connectivity and then it is with the help of these mules that we carry supplies to the forward posts on the peaks of mountains. We train these mules in the Pattan area. We carry supplies for the next six months in these areas as they get cut off due to the snowfall. We have a ration scale for these mules exactly like the soldiers. We give them 2.55 kg barley, 1 kg chana, 75 gmlinseed per day. We feed them thrice a day. There is always a nursing staff with them when they go from one place to another,'' G P Singh, Subedar, Indian Army.

There are more than 6000 mules with the Indian Army for carrying out tasks on difficult and unmotorable terrain on the higher reaches. During the Kargil war, these mules carried supplies to posts at a height of over 19000 ft from sea level. Each mule carries a load of 100 kgand can cover a distance of 40kmin a day.