At least 4 construction workers dead in avalanche in India
At least four workers have died after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India's mountainous border with Tibet, Indian army said Saturday.
The incident took place near the Mana Pass in northern Uttarakhand state on Friday, and 55 construction workers were initially trapped under snow. Rescuers pulled out 50 workers, of whom four later died, the Indian army said in a statement.
It said the search for the five remaining missing workers was continuing, with multiple teams of rescuers and military helicopters scanning the incident site. The statement did not specify the number of injured but said they were 'being prioritized for evacuation.'
Chandrashekhar Vashistha, a senior administrative official, said some of the workers had sustained serious injures and were hospitalized.
Many of the trapped workers were migrant laborers who were working on a highway widening and blacktopping project along a 50-kilometer (31-mile) stretch from Mana, the last village on Indian side, to the Mana Pass bordering Tibet.
'Rescue operations were slow due to heavy snowfall, and the area remained inaccessible,' said Kamlesh Kamal, a spokesperson for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. He said the rescuers had to work through several feet of snow, snowstorms and poor visibility.
The ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, which has been severely affected by global warming, is prone to avalanches and flash floods.
In 2022, 27 trainee mountaineers were killed in an avalanche in the northern Uttarakhand region. A year earlier, a glacier burst in the state resulted in a flash flood that left more than 200 people dead.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
2 days ago
- Nahar Net
North India on boil with heat waves disrupting normal lives and raising health concerns
by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 June 2025, 14:54 A blistering heat wave is sweeping across northern India with temperatures soaring above the normal, disrupting daily life and raising health concerns. The mercury shot up to 47.3 C (117 F) in Sri Ganganagar, a desert city in the northwestern state of Rajasthan on Monday , according to the Indian Meteorological Department. The record for the country is 51 C (124 F), set in May 2016 in Rajasthan's city of Phalodi. The searing heat is not just a seasonal discomfort but underscores a growing challenge for the country's overwhelmed health infrastructure. A prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures often causes heat strokes, mainly impacting the poor, outdoor workers, children, and the elderly. Last year, a monthslong heatwave across swathes of India killed more than 100 people and led to over 40,000 suspected cases of heat stroke, according to data from the health ministry. The Indian capital, New Delhi, saw its first heatwave of the season with temperatures soaring past 45 C (113 F) in one of its neighborhoods on Monday. The swelter wasn't just numerical as the real-feel temperature, the heat index factoring in relative humidity, was a couple of notches higher. For autorickshaw driver Pradeep Kumar, the scorching heat was taking a toll on his health and impacting household income as people avoided daytime commuting. "This heat makes us very tired. We drink water to keep up. But many times our health gets affected," Kumar said. "I feel troubled." The weather department has issued heatwave warnings for the next couple of days in northern India that include the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and the New Delhi national capital region. Some parts of those ares may witness light showers from Thursday, bringing relief. India declares a heat wave whenever temperatures are above 40 C (104 F) in the plains and 30 C (86 F) or more in its hilly regions. Heatwaves are usually reported from March to June and in some cases in July. The peak month is May, but it was relatively cooler this season due to weather aberrations amid multiple westerly disturbances, said G.P. Sharma, president at private weather forecaster Skymet. Ryan Rodriguez, a 22-year-old tourist from the U.S. was seen sipping a lemonade to keep himself cool in Delhi. "It's pretty hot here. I just came from a trip of the Middle East, so I am sort of adjusting to it. But (this is) much hotter than Virginia. I haven't seen any worse heat than this in India so far," said Rodriguez. In Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, a punishing heatwave made people's lives difficult as power grids struggled to keep pace with the soaring electricity demand. "There is no light for hours in the afternoon, just when the heat is unbearable," said Shabnam Khan, a homemaker in Lucknow, the state's capital city. "The fan stops, the cooler doesn't work, and we are left sitting on the floor, drenched in sweat." The state recorded its highest-ever electricity demand of 30,161 megawatts late Sunday as millions of homes and businesses ran cooling systems to beat the heat. Officials expect demand to surpass 32,000 megawatts in the coming weeks. Atul Kumar Singh, a senior scientist at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow, said the battle against this brutal summer heat was far from over as seasonal monsoon rains were still weeks away. "We are seeing the worst of both heat and humidity. This is no longer just a matter of discomfort. It is becoming a public health emergency," said Singh.
Nahar Net
16-05-2025
- Nahar Net
Nepal hosts environment conference as Himalayan glaciers melt
by Naharnet Newsdesk 16 May 2025, 15:06 An environment conference opened in Nepal on Friday to discuss global climate change, including the impact on the highest Himalayan peaks where snow and ice are melting. The three-day conference in Kathmandu titled, "Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity," is expected to include discussions of critical climate issues. "From the lap of Sagarmatha (Everest), the world's highest peak, we send this message loud and clear that to protect the mountains is to protect the planet. To protect the mountains is to protect our seas. To protect the mountains is to protect humanity itself," Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli told participants at the opening meeting. Nepal is home to eight of the tallest mountains in the world including Mount Everest. A high level of glaciers melting in the Himalayan mountains because of global warming has raised signficant concerns. Melting snow and ice have exposed the mountains and increased the risk of rock slides, landslides and avalanches. Scientists have warned the Himalayan mountains could lose up to 80% of their glaciers if the Earth warms in coming decades or centuries. They say flash floods and avalanches also could become more likely in coming years, in part because of climate change. "The tragedy is that the Himalayas are facing an unprecedented stress test in real time today, exposing not only the fragile nature of our mountain ecosystems but also a glaring evidence of the lack of meaningful global climate action," Nepal Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba said. "As a mountainous country with high disaster risk vulnerability, Nepal faces a stark predicament." Nepal has experienced a series of severe weather events in the recent past with devastating impacts on people and their livelihoods, Deuba said. "Floods and glacial lake outbursts have caused large-scale destruction and damage, and droughts, water scarcity and forest fires have brought untold suffering to the people across the country," she said Ministers from neighboring India, Bhutan and Maldives are attending the conference. Organizers have said they intend to publish a Kathmandu declaration after the discussions end Sunday.
Nahar Net
14-05-2025
- Nahar Net
In Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 May 2025, 16:10 For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist. "Everyone is suffering from the heat," Yadav said. "I hope they do more of this across the city." Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated. And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia's first heat action plan. The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it's helped save hundreds of lives every summer. City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they've reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city. Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer. A simple coat of paint makes all the difference Throughout the city's low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find. "Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house," said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor's roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs. Early results have been promising. "After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night," said Thakor. People like Thakor are much more vulnerable to extreme heat because their houses aren't insulated and, since most of them depend on a daily wage, they must work regardless of the weather, said Priya Bhavsar of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, who is working on the project. Bhavsar said low-cost solutions could be the only respite for thousands of people in the city who can't afford to buy an air conditioner. Veer Vanzara, who lives in the same area as Thakor and works in a nearby garment factory, said the heat makes his job much worse, especially since his factory has no ventilation. So his family is grateful for the cool roofs. "The evenings and night are much cooler than before inside our house," he said. A bus stop that's become an oasis from the heat In Ahmedabad's city center, a 25-meter stretch of a bus stop has been draped with mats made of straw which, when sprinkled with water, immediately cool the hot wind. Sprinklers installed on the bus stop roof lightly spray cool water on the commuters below, providing instant relief from the blazing heat just a step away. "When nothing like this was here, it was really hot. What they've done is really good. Senior citizens like me can get some cooling from the heat," said 77-year-old Ratilal Bhoire, who was waiting under the sprinklers with his daughter. Bhoire said when he was younger, Ahmedabad was hot, but it was still possible to walk many kilometers without feeling dizzy, even at the height of summer. "Nowadays you can't do that," he said. Heat is the city's biggest problem and heat waves — continuous days of extreme heat — are increasing, said Dr. Tejas Shah of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, who oversees the city's heat action plan. "We are in the period of climate change, and it has already shown its effect," said Shah. Shah and other city officials said the onset of summer has become a testing time and efforts such as cool roofs and cool bus stops are reducing heat-related illness and deaths. As climate projections predict only hotter and longer summers for his city, Shah said being prepared is the only thing to do. "It (the heat) needs to be addressed in the proper way," he said.
