The rescue of all the workers trapped in the avalanche in Mana village of Chamoli district was completed on the third day today. With the body of the last missing worker found at 5.30 pm today, the search and rescue operation concluded, and the death toll rose to eight.
A total of 54 workers were trapped in the incident, 46 people were rescued safely, and 8 died. As soon as the information about the Mana avalanche was received, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami immediately took charge and coordinated with all state agencies and the army.
During this, the CM continued to monitor the entire operation. On the second day, CM Dhami conducted a ground and aerial inspection of Joshimath and Mana village. He also spoke to the injured and encouraged both the officers and the victims.
Uttarakhand Public Relations Officer (Defence) Lieutenant Colonel Manish Srivastava said that on the morning of 28 February, some members of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) were reported trapped in a horrific glacier avalanche in Mana village of Chamoli district. Following this, the Indian Army team, led by Commander IBEX Brigade, was the first to begin the rescue operation.
46 lives were saved due to the continuous and professional rescue operations carried out by the joint efforts of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, ITBP, NDRF, Border Roads Organisation, and State Government. A total of eight helicopters, including five from the Army, two from the Air Force, and one civil helicopter hired by the Army, were deployed in this rescue operation.
All the rescued individuals were taken from Mana Post to Joshimath Military Hospital. The rescue team prioritized evacuating the injured.
Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta, GOC-in-C, Central Command, and Lieutenant General DG Mishra, GOC, UB Area reached the accident site and personally reviewed the rescue operation.
On the Army Commander’s initiative, a Drone-Based Intelligent Buried Object Detection System, along with other advanced equipment, was procured for the rescue operation today. The Army also deployed additional resources like UAVs, five quadcopters, three mini RPA drones, Avalanche Rescue Army Dog (Robin), and members of the Tiranga Mountain Rescue Team in the operation.
