No train via Punjab, Army took road, stocked winter supplies

At a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh. Reuters file

With farmer protests roiling Punjab and the Railways suspending services of goods and passenger trains, the Army hit the road to ensure stocking of essential supplies for troops on the northern frontiers. Military sources said winter stocking of supplies for personnel of the Army and Central Armed Police Forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was completed by the end of October. Any further replenishment will be flown in once the passes close in J&K and Himachal Pradesh, the sources said.

The suspension of train services following the farmer protests, which gained momentum after new farm laws were enacted by the Centre, had prompted Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to warn that it would not only hit the state's farmers and industry and people of neighbouring states, but also the supply of essentials to soldiers bracing for the winter in Ladakh and the Valley.

A senior Army officer said adequate reserves are already in place and the rail blockade will not pose a serious threat. Moreover, movement of special military trains for…