A recent avalanche near Joshimath, Uttarakhand, turned an ordinary night into a nightmare for several workers. The laborers, engaged in road construction, were resting in their container shelters when disaster struck.
Ganesh Kumar from Pithoragarh recalled, “One moment we were sleeping, and the next, our container was thrown 50-60 meters away. We were completely helpless, like puppets.”
Inside the container, there was complete darkness, eerie silence, and unbearable cold. The world outside had been buried under a thick layer of snow. The survivors struggled to breathe, their voices muffled under the heavy snow. For hours, they remained trapped, their limbs going numb from the freezing temperatures. Some tried to scratch at the walls, but there was no way out.
Then, faint voices were heard through the snow. At first, they thought it was an illusion, but the voices grew clearer. Eventually, the Army and ITBP personnel arrived, cutting through the snow to rescue them.
Manoj Bhandari from Uttarkashi shared, “Even today, those memories haunt us. We were so close to being buried forever. Some of our colleagues did not survive. It’s hard to forget that pain.”
This tragic incident serves as a reminder of the extreme dangers faced by workers in mountainous regions and the urgent need for better safety measures.
