New Delhi: Two soldiers of 1 Parachute Battalion (Special Forces) remained missing on Wednesday after an Indian Army boat carrying five personnel capsized in strong currents at Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district during joint watermanship training. Three members of the crew managed to swim to safety, while a multi-agency search continued across the barrage, the Yamuna and downstream canal network.
The incident took place on Tuesday. According to the Chandigarh-based defence public relations officer, the boat developed a technical snag and was carried towards the downstream side of the barrage by strong currents. Army teams made immediate efforts to retrieve the boat, but it became caught in strong eddies around the sluice gates and capsized, sweeping away the crew.
“The teams made swift efforts to retrieve the boat. However, the boat got struck in strong eddies around the sluice gates and capsized resulting in the crew getting swept away by the strong currents,” the defence spokesperson said. Three of the five personnel reached safety by swimming, while two soldiers remained missing.
The 1 Parachute Battalion is based at Nahan in Himachal Pradesh. The Army had not publicly identified the missing personnel in its latest statement.
Search extends to downstream canals
The search operation involves the Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, local police and the civil administration.
Two IAF helicopters have been deployed for aerial surveillance over Hathnikund Barrage and downstream areas as ground and waterborne teams continue searching for the missing soldiers.
The operation covers the barrage and the river downstream, as well as the two major canal systems branching from Hathnikund.
Teams are searching along the Western Yamuna canal towards Haryana and the Eastern Jamuna Canal towards Uttar Pradesh, besides other downstream stretches where the current could have carried the missing personnel.
The Western Army Command said all available resources were being employed to locate and recover the two soldiers.
Water discharge reduced to assist search
The Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department reduced water discharge at Hathnikund Barrage following a request from the Army (fix) to assist the search-and-rescue operation.
Water released into the Western Yamuna Canal was also reduced to make conditions more manageable for teams searching the fast-moving water, according to reports citing officials involved in the operation. The measure was intended to lower the intensity of the current while teams searched the barrage, river and connected canal system.
Rohtash Kumar, the station house officer of Pratap Nagar police station, confirmed that teams from several agencies were involved in the search. He said the two missing soldiers had not been traced at the time of the latest update.
Police and the local administration have been assisting Army and disaster-response teams with searches along the riverbanks, barrage area and downstream channels.
The operation has continued across multiple stretches because of the strong water flow around the barrage and the possibility that the missing personnel could have been carried further downstream.