Operation Drishti: AFMS Does 220 Eye Surgeries at Tangdhar

Surgeons of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) completed 220 sight-restoring surgeries over two days at Tangdhar in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, a shelling-prone pocket close to the Line of Control. The camp was held on 24 and 25 September 2026 under Operation Drishti, and it was the tenth edition in this series.

An operation theatre underground

Because of where it sits, the camp was run from an underground operation theatre. Most of the procedures were for cataract; the surgeons also carried out selected retinal procedures and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. Advanced phacoemulsification, vitreoretinal and glaucoma equipment had to be hauled across mountainous terrain to make this possible. For people living in a belt where a hospital of this kind is far away and the road can close without warning, a camp brought to the doorstep is often the only realistic chance of an eye operation at all.

Who led it and who came

The team was led by Brigadier Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Head of Ophthalmology at the Army Hospital (Research and Referral) in Delhi Cantonment. Patients reached the camp from Khawarpora, Tangdar, Tadd, Bagbela, Yangdar and hamlets nearby, after screening and after word went out on Radio Rooh-e-Karnah. The Indian Army stayed with each patient from arrival through recovery.

Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth visited over the two days, spoke to patients and handed out medicines and gifts. DG AFMS Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja also came to the camp and praised the surgeons and the local team.

The wider series

The series of mega eye camps was envisaged by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh. Across the series so far, more than 1.50 lakh patients have been screened and over 3,500 surgeries performed in 10 cities. The eleventh camp is scheduled for Srinagar from 27 to 29 September 2026, and the formal closing ceremony on 30 September 2026 is to be attended by the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha.