ITBP’s yak, pony get medals for carrying ration, ammo to LAC

PTI

New Delhi, October 31

Yak ‘Bahubali’ and pony ‘Madhu’, part of the ITBP animal transport wing, have been awarded special service medals for delivering tonnes of ration, equipment and ammunition to forward posts along the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Ladakh sectors respectively, officials said on Monday.

While 10-year-old Madhu has carried a total of 59,821-kg load during its seven years of service with the force in Ladakh sector, Bahubali (9.6 years) has walked 2,348 km and carried 7,818 kg during the same service period, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials said.

Posted in ladakh, sikkim sectors

• 59,821-kg load has been carried by 10-year-old pony (Madhu) during its seven-year service in Ladakh with the ITBP.
• 7,818-kg load has been ferried by 9.6-year-old yak (Bahubali) in Sikkim for seven years. The ITBP initiated the award in 2016.

The medals are given annually to those members of the animal transport wing who rendered exceptional services and undertook some of the most arduous journeys on the hills to reach remote border posts of the ITBP, a senior officer said.

According to official records, the wing, comprising ponies, mules and yaks, carried 30,45,019-kg load as its members walked over 3,43,593 km in the current year. The animals carry dry rations, fuel, ammunition, packaged food and other items to border posts that are located at high altitudes from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh ranging from a height of 8,000 ft to 16,000 ft.

The medals were given to the two winners at their respective border posts on the occasion of the ITBP Raising Day that was celebrated on October 24.

The ITBP had instituted Animal Transport and ‘K9’ (canine) medal in 2016 to honour the services of its four-legged soldiers.

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