On January 15, Indian Army carried out a rescue operation and saved 172 workers of Megha Engineering and Industry Limited near Sarbal Village in Sonamarg, district Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir. The workers were stuck after a strong avalanche struck the company’s workshop area. These workers were involved in the construction of the Zojila Tunnel.
The project has been postponed for a couple of weeks owing to harsh weather conditions. Reports suggest two avalanches hit the area, and the second one was strong enough to trap the workers.
172 Laborers rescued from avalanche in Sonamarg’s Sarbal. The rescued have been moved to safer location. pic.twitter.com/ykbUltJRYB
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 15, 2023
A Twitter user Bharat Gopu shared a Twitter thread explaining how the rescue operation was carried out. He wrote that around 5:40 PM, a sudden avalanche took place, and 172 workers got trapped in the workshop. They lost contact with the outer world, and because of the natural disaster, there was no way out.
172 workers were trapped there.They lost touch with the whole world.The avalanche was so fierce that there was no way out.Realizing the seriousness of the situation & the responsibility for the lives of as many as 172 people,the project engineer of Megha Engineering Industry Ltd
— Bharath Gopu 🇮🇳 (@bgopu1973) January 23, 2023
The project engineer immediately contacted the Indian Army considering the seriousness of the situation. Without losing any time, the Indian Army swung into action and dispatched a team of trained soldiers from the Gund camp to initiate the rescue operation.
Upon reaching the spot, they started the operation and soon enough, all 172 workers were spotted. By the time of sunrise on January 15, the Assam Rifles Regiment of the Indian Army started a war-level mission to rescue the workers.
Bharat noted that the Indian Army sent special commandos, trained dogs and special machinery for the rescue operation. A medical team was also stationed by the Army to address the health issues of the trapped workers. All 172 workers were rescued without a single causality.
Defence PRO said, “On getting the distress call, a rescue team was immediately mobilised from Army Camp Gund that negotiated the snow-covered route and reached the site the same night, providing the needed reassurance to the stranded workers and MEIL authorities.”
Avalanche in Sonamarg, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
— Serendipity 2.0 | imetaversity.nft (@IMetaversity) January 15, 2023
January 14, 2023. pic.twitter.com/WQIJmia4Oz
He added, “After deliberate efforts, the team was able to rescue all the 172 workers stranded in the avalanche to safety. Immediate medical assistance was administered to the injured by the Medical Officer of Assam Rifles Battalion at the site.”
Earlier, two workers had lost their lives in an avalanche that hit Sonmarg on Thursday.
1,100 people relocated from avalanche-prone areas
As per the WION report, 1,100 people have been relocated from avalanche-prone areas. The General Manager of NHIDCL said, “There were around 1,100 people located there in those areas. Normally we stop all external work during December. No external work was going on, only tunnel work was going on; we had 1,100 people out of those 300 people who were directly involved in tunnel work, out of which 800 were just located there, they were not doing any work. After the occurrence of these avalanches, 800 were sent to their respective homes, and 300 people were still there who were involved in tunnel work, after the occurrence of the second avalanche, which took place on Saturday, we sent home 172 people.”
He further said that last year no avalanche took place, and the teams continued work without any hindrance. However, this year four avalanches happened, and one of them was severe. He said, “We have got the direction from the administration to suspend the work for the time being till the situation improves. At least work is suspended for the next two weeks, we are planning to call the experts who can predict the snow avalanches during the end of January. We will take their advice, and then we will resume work. We have all the precautions to start the work.”
Once the weather conditions get favourable, the work at the tunnel will be resumed.
