DHARAMSHALA: The rescue operation was called off on Thursday after five more groups were rescued from the snow bound Bara Bhangal region. Teams were trying to create a path to reach the shepherds and their flocks over the last eight days; 14 groups were rescued on Wednesday and five on Thursday.The five groups include 70 shepherds, 10,000 livestock and 250 horses. A team of 32 people, including mountaineers and revenue officials, had to cut through the ice to create a path.Vikas Shukla, Sub Divisional Magistrate, confirmed that operation was a success.He said that the path has been created and it would be easy for others also to cross this snow bound region.“The credit goes to the whole team. One of our official, Vilayti Ram, has done a marvellous job. Members of mountaineering institute were also part of this team effort and they had used their special snow equipment to facilitate the rescue,” he said.The weather also played a vital role in this rescue operation. Remaning shepherds were advised by the authorities to come down as early as possible.It snowed earlier than usual this year. This created a problem for the shepherds who, during the summer, travel to the higher reaches of Bara Bhangal. Usually, they come down before the snow fall. But this year early snow blocked their paths.

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