On 11 June, due to heavy rains, a small cascade of water converted into a massive torrent of waterfall, washing away a certain portion of the road from the towns of Singtam to Dikchu in Sikkim.
Unknown of the change in weather and road condition, a Mahindra Bolero vehicle carrying four passengers and the driver tried to cross this waterfall at about 3:30 am in the morning, but the water force was too much even for the powerful vehicle. The Bolero vehicle got washed away by the water, but was lucky that to get stuck against some boulders, which prevented it from falling into the deep gorge below.
Immediately, the message was sent to the nearest BRO detachment of Project Swastik. The BRO Karamyogis immediately got into action and were there on site in a short time.
When they reached the site, all four passengers and the driver were still stuck inside the vehicle. They could not get out as the doors were stuck by the boulders on one side while the water force prevented them from opening the doors on the other.
The Karamyogis managed to reach the vehicle through the massive waterfall and assured the passengers for an early and safe rescue.
These BRO Karamyogis thereafter put all their might to ensure that the vehicle does not fall into the valley while safety measures were adopted to extricate the passengers from the stuck vehicle. After almost one hour of efforts, the BRO was able to rescue all the passengers and the driver from the vehicle at about 5:30 am.
However, the extrication of the Bolero vehicle could not be carried out as the force of the water was too much for the BRO men to handle manually. The officer on the ground directed the assembly of all the earthmoving equipment of BRO held nearby to save the vehicle from falling down. The JCB, the dozer, the tracked excavator and the paver, all were put into action. With methodical planning and while ensuring maximum safety measures, the BRO was able to finally pull out the bolero vehicle at about 9:30 am.
Thereafter, the BRO got into their clockwork precision and planned action of landslide clearance and road opening. With JCBs working from both ends, the landslide was cleared in quick time to allow the blocked traffic, since early morning, to travel through by 10:00 am
