Surgeons perform 220 eye operations underground in remote Kashmir

Military surgeons performed 220 eye operations at a two-day camp in Tangdhar, a remote part of Jammu and Kashmir, bringing free specialist treatment closer to residents who struggle to travel for care. The procedures took place in an underground operating theatre near the Line of Control, according to India’s defence ministry.

Most operations treated cataracts, which cloud the eye’s lens. The surgical team carried specialist equipment across mountainous terrain, while patients from Tangdhar and neighbouring villages attended following screening and a local radio announcement. Army staff guided patients from arrival through recovery.

For families, the benefit was not just proximity. Examinations, treatment and medicines were provided at no cost. One resident told ANI that the person he accompanied had lived with an eye condition for nearly two years because treatment in Srinagar was unaffordable. That patient underwent surgery at the camp. Other residents described the difficulty of paying for transport and accommodation when seeking care far from home.

Known as Operation Drishti, the event was the tenth in a wider Armed Forces Medical Services eye-camp programme. The defence ministry said the series had screened more than 150,000 patients and delivered over 3,500 operations across ten cities.