Second jawan from Madurai dies in Kashmir avalanche

The deceased soldier was identified as Dhamodara Kannan from K Vellakulam near Tirumangalam in Madurai district. On Sunday, there was an avalanche at Machil sector of J&K and five soldiers were buried alive under sheets of snow. Forces rescued all the five, including Dhamodara Kannan, alive and shifted them to a hospital in Srinagar. Despite best medical care, all the five jawans breathed their last. 

Dhamodara Kannan, who is the eldest son of a daily wage earner couple, joined the army in 2012. He was a diploma holder in mechanical engineering. 

For the past six months he had been serving at Jammu and Kashmir. His untimely death had cast a pall of gloom in his native village. 

Speaking to media, his mother, Rani, said “I and my husband are daily wage earners. We struggled hard to even to fund the education of our two sons. From childhood their aim was to serve the nation and they achieved it to our delight by entering the army. My second son Harikumar, also an army jawan, is at present posted in Bengaluru.” 

“We had big dreams about Dhamodara Kannan. His death is an irreplaceable loss to the family. The avalanche has buried not only my son but our hopes too,” lamented Rani. 

Police said that the body of Dhamodara Kannan would reach Madurai either by Tuesday night or by Wednesday morning. Minister RB Udayakumar would visit the village as the state government representative to pay respects to the jawan.

Dhamodara Kannan is the second jawan from Madurai to die in an avalanche in a week’s time. The first one was Sundarapandiyan of Pallakapatti near Tirumangalam in Madurai district, on January 26. The army is still continuing its efforts to trace the body of Sundarapandiyan.