Badrinath snow disaster: How sturdy steel boxes helped BRO workers survive brutal Himalayan avalanche

Badrinath avalanche

The Indian Army on Sunday said that rescuers could save lives of 46 road construction workers who got trapped under snow near Badrinath. Eight workers died in the tragedy.

An avalanche struck the road construction site of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) near Mana village, close to the Badrinath Temple, on Friday, burying 54 workers inside eight steel containers and a shed.

The statistics over the last few years paint a bleak picture about the natural disaters in the state. Usually, tragedies like an avalanche are harsh in the Himalayas and it's uncommon to survive under such circumstances. Avalanches have stranded more than 140 people and killed around 70 in the recent past. Survival has depended on rescue operations as catastrophic tragedies have regularly plagued India's mountain regions, affecting hikers, troops, and tourists in Jammu & Kashmir and Sikkim, as well as mountaineers in Uttarakhand.

However, this time the steel containers in which the road construction workers were resting and the potential for prompt action by Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officers, who were positioned nearby, played in the survivors' favour.

The impact of the avalanche in Mana was enormous, engulfing eight lodging containers and a shed, sending them hundreds of metres in the direction of the Alaknanda River. Those who were flung outdoors had little chance. But it was feasible to survive within the containers. Most of them were spared by these metal shelters.

A top rescue official was quoted by TOI, "They had just enough oxygen to hold on until we got them out." They would have met a bleak end if they had been in tents or barracks. These steel containers, which were made to withstand harsh environments, could accommodate 12–14 workers each. They were not crushed by the snow's weight because of their sturdy construction.

More significantly, they stayed closed, preventing the burial of those who were within. Around 250 Indian Army and ITBP soldiers were stationed at the border outpost in Mana. They were on the ground in a matter of minutes, sifting through the snow and dragging survivors to safety. "The border outpost allowed for an immediate response. Search and rescue operations were immediately launched by Army and ITBP personnel," a senior ITBP official informed TOI.

Additionally, the presence of military personnel guaranteed prompt medical attention. In order to prevent additional casualties, the majority of the injured workers were treated at the Army and ITBP medical inspection(MI) rooms. “Without their presence, reaching the area would have taken much more time. And that would have cost more lives," an officer from Chamoli district said.