Uttarakhand Avalanche: 25 Workers Still Trapped, Rescue Ops Halted Due To Adverse Weather Conditions

ꩲAs a massive avalanche hit the high-altitude village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Friday, 32 of the 57 Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers are still trapped under the snowslide.

💧Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border at a height of 3,200 metres. Visuals from Mana showed rescuers trudging through high piles of snow in a grim landscape bathed in white.

♓Multiple rescue teams on Friday battled through tough terrain, heavy snow, and icy temperatures throughout the day to reach the men. However, the concern over the safety of these 25 workers still prevails as the rescue operations have been halted considering the adverse weather conditions.

Uttarakhand Avalanche: Top Points To Know

Rescue Operations By Indian Army, NDRF, SDRF

🎉Several teams of rescue workers including the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were promptly deployed for rescue operations. Indian Army's swift response teams, comprising more than 100 people from the Ibex Brigade, specially trained in high-altitude rescue operations, were immediately mobilised. The team included doctors and ambulances.

💮According to the Army officials, all 32 rescued workers have been taken to the ITBP camp in Mana for treatment. Four of those rescued are reported to be in a critical condition, the Army PRO said.

🌠Moreover, several teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF also left for the spot, about 300 km from the state capital Dehradun, amid continuing snowfall and rain. The NDRF said it rushed four teams to Chamoli. Besides, another four units have been kept on standby, NDRF Director General (DG) Piyush Anand told PTI.

✃Chamoli's disaster management officer NK Joshi said the Army and ITBP teams stationed in Mana have been engaged in rescue operations since morning but those being sent from outside are stuck on the way due to bad weather.

CM Dhami Reviews Situation

🙈Chief Minister Dhami had told reporters earlier in the day that 16 of the trapped labourers had been rescued.

𒁏"Our effort is to rescue all safely as soon as possible," he said

꧅In an earlier post on X, Dhami said, "Received the sad news about several labourers getting trapped in an avalanche which occurred near Mana village during construction work being carried out by the BRO."

♛“I pray to lord Badri Vishal for the safety of all the labourers," Dhami said in the post.

Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh Express Concern

Home Minister Amit Shah 🅘said rescuing the trapped people is the government's priority. In a post on X, he said he had talked to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the DGs of the ITBP and the NDRF.

🌃Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said all efforts were being taken to rescue the trapped personnel by utilising all available resources. "An unfortunate avalanche has occurred in the Mana area of Joshimath (Uttarakhand) today impacting a GREF camp of BRO. Spoke to CM Shri @pushkardhami regarding the situation. The administration is providing all assistance to the affected,” he said in a post on X.

Warnings Of Avalanche Were Issued On Thursday

ꦦThe Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) in Chandigarh had issued an avalanche warning for a period of 24 hours at 5 pm on Thursday for places located above 2,400 metres in Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts.

♛The MeT office in Dehradun also predicted isolated heavy rain and snowfall in locations situated at 3,500 metres and above in these districts on Friday morning. Following this, the State Emergency Operations Centre here alerted concerned district magistrates.

(With PTI inputs)