The Jammu and KashmirPolice have become only such belt force in the entire county to haveestablished its own specialised Mountain Rescue Team (MRT).

Making a modest beginningin 2009 soon after JKP’s own staffer, Ram Singh Slathia, climbed the world’shighest peak, Mount Everest in 2008, the MRT has grown into a 1300-memberstrong team.

Further, these trainedindividuals and their instructors, including two more Everest Climbers, Nazirand Falail Singh (2019), constitute 17 different teams of MRT of J&KPolice.

“Not only engaged inrescue in the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, the specialmountaineering wing of the J&K Police have successfully completed 45 expeditionswithin and outside the country,” said head of the MRT, Ram Singh Slathia.

An important part of theJ&K Police, the 16 years old, MRT shall soon become full-fledgedmountaineering institute on the lines of existing Jawahar Institute ofMountaineer (JIM) and National Institute of Mountaineering (NIM).

The MRT has alreadyestablished its basic training base in district Samba, where, apart from JKP,special groups from other forces are being trained in mountain rescue.

“Apart from training ownmen and women, the MRT has already provided specialised training to over 2000individuals from NDRF, CRPF, SDRF and other volunteer organisation,” informedRam Singh.

Meanwhile, it has beenreliably learned that the process to establish an independent mountain instituteof the JKP was initiated by then ADGP, S M Sahai in 2014.

“Now, the present ADGPArmed, Anand Jain is taking a keen interest and the things have started movingtowards the ultimate goal of an independent mountaineering institution by theJ&K Police,” informed sources told SAN.

====