U'khand floods: DG-BRO visits Joshimath to take stock of damages

Director General of Border Roads Organization (BRO), Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhry visited the Joshimath sector on Saturday to take stock of the ongoing rescue, relief, and rehabilitation work after Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.

Director General of Border Roads Orgzation (BRO), Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhry visited the Joshimath sector on Saturday to take stock of the ongoing rescue, relief, and rehabilitation work after Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.

"The GLOF in the Rishiganga river also washed away a 90 metre RCC bridge of BRO on Joshimath - Malari road near Raini Village. This bridge was the only link to Niti border," read the press release by the Ministry of Defence.

"BRO true to its motto "ShramenaSarvamSadhaym" has quickly swung into action for rescue and rehabilitation work by inducting more than 100 Vehicles / Equipments and plants which include about 15 heavy earth moving equipments like hydraulic excavators, dozers, JCBs, wheel loaders etc," Director General of BRO said.

"BRO has also air inducted critical equipment with the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Almost 20 teams of 21 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) under Project Shivalik have been deployed for rescue and rehabilitation purposes. After initial recce, BRO started work for re-establishing connectivity on all required fronts," he said.

"The site was very challenging due to steep cliff on far bank and 25-30 metre high debris/ muck on the other side, however, BRO has overcome these challenges and construction of abutment on the far bank has been completed and work on the home bank is progressing on the war footing, Bailey bridge components are being sourced from various locations," he added.

While lauding the hard work and sincere efforts being put in by team Shivalik, Chaudhry told that BRO is working round the clock under extreme weather conditions to re-establish connectivity at the earliest by launching a bailey bridge of 200 feet.

He also said that although the primary task of BRO is to ensure that lines of communication are through, BRO has also been playing a pivotal role in search and rescue operations to locate missing persons. Towards this BRO has deployed four heavy-duty machines and has been able to recover some bodies so far from Raini power house location. BRO is working in close coordination with the State Government.

He also thanked the State Government for providing support and assistance to BRO in accomplishing their task.

( With inputs from ANI )