CHAMOLI: The bodies of three more labourers were retrieved from the avalanche-hit Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Chamoli on Sunday. Meanwhile, search and rescue operations continued for a worker still missing on the third day of the rescue effort.
According to Army doctors, 46 workers who had earlier been rescued were transported to the military hospital in Jyotirmath. One of the injured workers, suffering from a spinal cord injury, was airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh, for advanced medical care. Three others remain in critical condition, L.t Col DS Maldhya confirmed. To accelerate the rescue mission, authorities deployed helicopters, sniffer dogs, and thermal imaging technology, especially in light of concerns over worsening weather conditions expected on Monday.
District administration officials in Gopeshwar confirmed that three more bodies were discovered on Sunday. With this, the official death toll from the Mana avalanche has reached seven, while efforts persist to locate the last remaining missing worker.
The retrieved bodies were airlifted to Jyotirmath, where post-mortem examinations were being conducted at the Community Health Centre. Officials identified the deceased as Anil Kumar (21) from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, Ashok (28) from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Harmesh from Una in Himachal Pradesh.
The only worker still unaccounted for is 43-year-old Arvind from the Clement Town area in Dehradun. Authorities remain hopeful of locating him as search efforts continue.
The avalanche struck the BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath on Friday, burying 54 workers inside eight containers and a shed. Initial estimates had suggested that 55 workers were trapped, but it was later confirmed that one laborer had been on unauthorized leave and had safely reached home before the incident.
By Saturday evening, rescue teams had managed to extract 50 of the trapped workers, though four of them were found deceased. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre to assess the ongoing rescue efforts. He emphasized the use of advanced technology, including ground penetrating radar (GPR), thermal imaging cameras, and victim locating cameras, to expedite the search for missing workers.
“The weather is expected to deteriorate again on Monday. Our goal is to locate the missing worker before conditions worsen,” the Chief Minister stated.
In a post on X, Dhami directed officials to intensify rescue operations, highlighting that the Indian Army, ITBP, NDRF, SDRF, and other relief teams were working tirelessly on a war footing.
Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari expressed optimism that the search would advance rapidly, given the current clear weather conditions. The GPR system from Delhi was expected to arrive shortly and would be transported to the site via an Mi-17 helicopter stationed in Dehradun.
Multiple agencies have been deployed in the rescue mission. Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), equipped with sniffer dogs, are actively searching for the missing worker. Senior officials, including Lt. Gen Anindya Sengupta, GOC-in-C, Central Command, and L.t Gen DG Mishra, GOC, Uttar Bharat, were present at the site to oversee the operations.
Six helicopters have been deployed for the rescue mission, including three from the Indian Army Aviation Corps, two from the Indian Air Force (IAF), and one civilian chopper hired by the Army. Located three kilometers from Badrinath, Mana is the last village on the India-Tibet border and is situated at an altitude of 3,200 meters.
Officials reported that the rescue efforts on Saturday were primarily conducted using Army and IAF helicopters, as the access road remained blocked by heavy snow, making vehicular movement nearly impossible. The highest priority remained the evacuation of rescued workers to the Army hospital in Jyotirmath and the search for the remaining missing worker.
If weather conditions permit, authorities plan to deploy specialized RECCO radars, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), quadcopters, and additional avalanche rescue dogs to assist in locating the missing laborer, L.t.. Gen Sengupta said. However, he cautioned that the success of these plans remains dependent on the weather.
Over 200 personnel from multiple agencies, including the disaster management authority, ITBP, BRO, NDRF, SDRF, IAF, district administration, health department, and fire brigade, are actively engaged in the rescue operation. The teams are working in coordination to ensure the quickest possible retrieval of the missing worker and to provide necessary medical aid to those rescued.
With all efforts focused on locating the final missing labourer, the authorities remain hopeful that the ongoing rescue operations will conclude successfully before adverse weather conditions further complicate the mission.