Indian Army Jawan Killed In Landslide Near India-China Border In Arunachal Pradesh

Subedar AS Dhagale was trapped deep under debris following a massive landslide in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang on March 27.

File photo of deceased Subedar AS Dhagale. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Guwahati: The Army jawans on Saturday retrieved the mortal remains of Subedar AS Dhagale who was trapped deep under debris following a massive landslide in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang. Subedar AS Dhagale was a native of Maharashtra’s port town Ratnagiri. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

During operational work, a team of Indian Army jawans was struck by a massive landslide in Tawang, early on Monday.  

The sudden landslide was so massive that it brought with it 6-7 feet of debris including mud, rocks, and trees.

Though several Army jawans were able to escape the fierce catastrophe with minor or no injury, Subedar AS Dhagale got trapped in the debris and went missing.

The Army immediately launched a massive search operation to rescue Subedar Dhagale but the daylong tireless efforts by over a hundred Army jawans yielded no results and the search and rescue operations had to be called off after dusk.

Operations to locate the missing Subedar resumed with the break of dawn the next day. 

Hundreds of Army jawans put their relentless efforts to locate their colleague throughout the day, daring inclement weather but all their efforts proved to be futile even on Tuesday.

Search operations continued for the next few days but the results were the same as the missing Subedar could not be located.

The Army jawans resumed their search operation early on Saturday using specialised excavators and earthmovers.

After several hours of searching since morning, the search and rescue team retrieved the mortal remains of Subedar AS Dhagale, trapped deep under the debris.

The mortal remains of Subedar AS Dhagale were soon moved to the Tawang district hospital.

A wreath-laying ceremony has been organised on Sunday at the Tawang Advanced Landing Ground to pay tributes to the martyred soldier.

The mortal remains of Subedar AS Dhagale will be flown to his hometown later in the day where his last rites will be performed.

Landslides are a common phenomenon in the hill state of Arunachal Pradesh, especially Tawang, which shares international borders with China. 

Several Army jawans and tourists have lost their lives in some of the most horrific landslides in the district over the years. 

Not only in Arunachal Pradesh, but landslides often occur in other Northeastern states. The worst-ever landslide buried an under-construction railway yard in Manipur's Noney district on June 27, 2022, killing at least 50 people.

Natural calamities like floods and landslides are only aggravating every year in the Northeast.

If experts are to be believed, the changing precipitation pattern and destruction of hills for the construction of roads and railway tracks have been aggravating the problem in the region.

The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.