The horrific avalanche in the Border Roads Organization (BRO) camp near Mana village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand caused havoc on Friday. A total of 54 laborers were buried in snow in this accident, out of which 46 were safely rescued, but 8 laborers have died. On Sunday, the rescue team also recovered the body of the last missing laborer. The rescue team was constantly searching through modern technology and air aid. Read the entire timeline of Mana Event.
1. 46 laborers safe, 8 killed
A total of 46 laborers have been rescued safely in Mana Alag, while the death of 8 laborers has been confirmed. Those who died include Mohinder Pal and Jitendra Singh of Himachal Pradesh, Manjeet Yadav of Uttar Pradesh and Alok Yadav of Uttarakhand. On the third day of the rescue operation, rescue agencies recovered the body of the last missing laborer.
2. The weather became a big hurdle
The rescue operation was started after the avalanche incident, but the rescue operations were disrupted due to heavy snowfall and rain on Friday, which led to the postponement overnight. However, after the weather was clear on Sunday, the agencies started efforts to find the last laborer.
3. More than 200 rescuers deployed
Teams of the Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Border Roads Organization (BRO) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were engaged in rescue. More than 200 personnel were engaged in this high-entity rescue operation. Apart from this, dogs investigated were also sent to Chamoli to help in rescue operations.
4. Number of missing laborers decreased
Initially, the disappearance of five laborers was reported. But, Sunil Kumar of Himachal Pradesh managed to reach a safe house on his own, which reduced the number of missing laborers to four. The agencies saved three more laborers, but they could not save the last laborer trapped.
5. Workers’ containers buried in snow
In the avalanche, the containers of 8 laborers of BRO camp were buried in snow. The first 5 containers were found, the remaining 3 containers were discovered on Friday. No laborers were found in them, which increased the concern.
6. Use of modern equipment
Relief parties resorted to Victim Locating Camera (VLC), thermal imaging camera, Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) and Evelyn Rescue Dogs from Delhi.
7. Relief from helicopter
3 Army, 2 Air Force 2 and one civil helicopter were engaged in relief work. Air Force Cheetah helicopter continued to take the injured to the Army Hospital in Joshimath.
8. Effect of snowfall on highway also
The Badrinath-Joshimath highway was blocked at 15 to 20 places, causing problems in reaching the road rescue teams. Army and Air Force helicopters brought rescue teams and equipment to the spot.
9. Search campaign with drone technology
To assist in search of a trapped laborer, a drone-based Intelligent Intelligent Barid Object Detection (DIBOD) system was also deployed. This system was previously used to detect human presence below the surface of the earth in Wayanad, which was expected to help in the ongoing rescue efforts.
10. Chief Minister and Prime Minister focus on rescue operation
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an aerial survey of the scene and appreciated the relief teams. He directed the officials to continue the rescue operations on a war footing. At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took information about the situation and assured all possible help from the Center.