60 hours, 200 jawans and a complex rescue operation

Dehradun: It was around 8am on Friday, barely two hours after an avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) campsite near Mana village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, when an entire company of the Indian Army’s IBEX Brigade from the Mana post, nearly 1.5 kms away, was dispatched to the disaster-hit site.

As the blanket of snow thickened, the winds howled through the valley, visibility dropped to near zero, and oxygen levels thinned at an elevation of approximately 3,200 metres, the soldiers from the elite force trained in high-altitude operations pressed on, digging through deep snow to search and rescue the construction workers trapped inside eight metal containers buried in snow.

“Within 45 minutes of receiving the information, the entire IBEX Brigade from Mana assembled and began the rescue operation at 8 am. The weather was extremely harsh, there was heavy snowfall… the conditions were incredibly difficult,” Lt Col Manish Srivastava, defence public relations officer, Dehradun, said.

Armed with rescue equipment and medical supplies, a team of 174 personnel from the IBEX Brigade, including doctors and engineers, were the first responders to the avalanche disaster. Soon, a team of eight personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) also joined them.

The IBEX Brigade soldiers worked tirelessly, and their hard work paid off by 3 pm, when they managed to pull out 10 men from the wreckage of the containers buried deep in the snow. But their mission wasn’t over as 44 more men still needed to be saved.

As night fell, darkness engulfed the area and the snow continued to pour. Undeterred, the soldiers pressed on.

“The snow kept piling up, the winds grew stronger, but our soldiers worked through the night without stopping,” Srivastava said. “Providing immediate medical attention to those in critical condition was also a challenge. Our doctors at our healthcare facility near the avalanche-hit site performed life-saving surgery on two critically injured workers.”

By next morning, the weather improved and the rescue operation picked additional momentum. The defence helicopters, which couldn’t fly the previous day due to the inclement weather, were now able to supply additional resources to the site. Soon, rescuers came to know that 23 workers they were searching for had already escaped the campsite towards Badrinath.

“The rescue operation was particularly challenging on Day 1, when we had limited resources, equipment, and medical supplies. The road connectivity was cut off, and helicopters couldn’t fly. Fortunately, the choppers were able to fly on the second day, Saturday, and we could mobilise resources from Jyotirmath. We also deployed quadcopters and drones on the second day to assist the search operation,” the defence PRO said.

By Saturday evening, rescuers had pulled out 17 more men from the deep snow. However, three of the eight containers were still missing, and four men were unaccounted for.

With the deployment of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the rescuers finally located the bodies of the four missing men, concluding the operation by Sunday afternoon.

“Battling blinding snowfall, near-zero visibility, and freezing temperatures, our jawans worked for over 55 hours, day and night. They were drained, but their willpower kept them going,” Srivastava said.

The approximately 200 personnel engaged in the relief and rescue operations included members of the army, ITBP, BRO, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and district administration.

In a statement on Sunday evening, ITBP said the temperature at Mana village was in the range of minus 12 to minus 15 degrees Celsius over the last three days when the rescue operation underway.

“The rescue operations were carried out in extreme weather conditions. 46 rescued survivors are under medical care. There were 8 casualties with the last body recovered in the evening today (Sunday). Sniffer dogs and thermal imaging played a crucial role in locating the trapped individuals,” an ITBP spokesperson said.

DIG Manu Maharaj of the ITBP, who was on the ground, pointed out that deep snow measuring nearly 6-8 feet under which the workers were trapped made the operation even more difficult.

“The terrain was challenging. It was not just the temperature or altitude but there were crevasses at the spot. The snow had covered the crevasses. Our rescuers had to be careful not to fall in the crevasse,” Maharaj told HT after the completion of the rescue operation.

The officer added that all agencies jointly coordinated on the mountain for the last three days.

Sudesh Drall, commandant of the NDRF’s 15 battalion, said that apart from technology, sniffer dogs and a worker who had survived the avalanche, helped the rescuers in the operation.

“A worker who had survived helped the teams on the ground zero in on the location of the containers where the workers were sleeping at the time of the avalanche. Many workers were found outside the containers. They had tried to escape from the container when the avalanche struck. There was snow all around, but the worker helped us get an idea of the locations where the containers were installed. He too was of great help in finding the other injured persons,” Drall, who was also on the ground, added.

(With inputs from Prawesh Lama)