Rescue team officials have saved 47 workers and efforts are underway to trace the rest of 8 workers trapped under the snow after avalanche in the high-altitude village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. Nearly 55 BRO workers were trapped in Uttarakhand’s Badrinath due to an avalanche in the region. It was triggered because of a glacier blast and left several workers trapped under the snow, according to reports. 47 workers have been rescued so far, ANI reported citing District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari.
Uttarakhand Badrinath Snow Avalanche
Why In News
- Rescue team officials have saved 47 workers and efforts are underway to trace the rest of 8 workers trapped under the snow after avalanche in the high-altitude village of Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district.
- Nearly 55 BRO workers were trapped in Uttarakhand’s Badrinath due to an avalanche in the region. It was triggered because of a glacier blast and left several workers trapped under the snow, according to reports. 47 workers have been rescued so far, ANI reported citing District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari.
Uttarakhand Avalanche
- A day after an avalanche struck a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) project at Mana in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli, eight people remained trapped on Saturday morning. Mana, located three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on the India-Tibet border at an altitude of 3,200 meters.
- The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said the forces have been able to bring 47 workers to safety over 24 hours. The workers were employed by a contractor to clear the stretch ahead of BRO operations for a road project between Mana village and Mana Pass.
- They were in their bunkers when the incident took place, district administration authorities said. “They were in eight bunkers around 7.15 am when the incident took place on Friday and we are evacuating the workers from these,” said a senior official. The rescue operation began at 7.30 am and six injured workers were taken to the Army Hospital in Joshimath.
- The rescue operation was suspended due to worsening weather conditions and the risk of additional avalanches. Two smaller avalanches had already followed the initial one.
Uttarakhand Has Experienced Many Natural Disasters
- In 2022, an avalanche at the Draupadi Ka Danda peak in Uttarakhand, killed 27 mountaineers in the Advanced Mountaineering Course of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering- the worst mountaineering disaster recorded in India. 2021 Chamoli Flash Floods.
- Floods took place in 2021 in the Nanda Devi National Park in the outer Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand. The flooding in Chamoli district was caused by a large rock and ice avalanche consisting of material dislodged from Ronti peak. The disaster left over 200 killed or missing- most of whom were workers at the Tapovan dam site.
- In June 2013, a cloudburst in Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
Why Uttarakhand Is Prone To Natural Disasters
- Himalayan state of Uttarakhand is highly sensitive to natural disasters such as landslides, earthquakes and floods, especially during monsoons when its vulnerability to calamities is heightened.
- Dr Sushil Kumar, former Geophysics Group head at the Institute of Himalayan Geology, said that the Himalayas is a relatively younger mountain range and it consists of only soil on its upper surface up to 30-50 feet.
- As the soil erodes, especially during the rains, this leads to landslides. Moreover, cutting of the hills for construction and increased rains due to the increased catchment area of the Tehri Dam have also increased Uttarakhand’s vulnerability to natural calamities.
