Rescue operations are currently going on in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district where an avalanche struck near Mana village in Badrinath and trapped a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp on Friday morning. As per ANI, 50 workers have been rescued till now, four have lost their lives and four continue to be untraced.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has been monitoring the rescue operations and has visited the Disaster Control Room in Dehradun twice to oversee the ops.
Those who managed to survive have shared their horror story when the avalanche took place. Vijay Pandey, one of the rescued workers is currently being treated at the Joshimath Army Hospital, told ANI, “We were in the container when the avalanche hit us, and it swept the container away. There were nine of us inside it and four are admitted here.”
Another survivor described the suddenness of the disaster, mentioning, “I had never seen anything like this in my whole life. A few of us somehow managed to reach the BRO camp.”
A third survivor highlighted the force of the avalanche, stating, “It happened so suddenly, that we did not realise anything. All our containers got destroyed because of the heavy storm. Anyhow we managed to rush towards the army camp. Given the harsh weather, the Army and the government did everything they could.”
The rescue team resumed their search operation on Sunday after it was temporarily halted on Saturday because of heavy snowfall. Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman shared an update and said, “The weather has supported us. Out of 54 missing BRO workers, 50 were rescued, four lost their lives and four others are still missing. We continue to be hopeful for locating them soon.”
Advanced technology is being used by the authorities for conducting the search operation. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has airlifted a drone-based intelligent buried object detection system to assist in securing those who are still trapped. Moreover, a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) communication team from Joshimath has been sent to Badrinath Dham along with a man-pack repeater for enhancing coordination.
(With inputs from ANI)