The SDO reported my reluctance to the District Magistrate (DM), who visited Barauni the next day and sent for me. He tried to invoke my sense of duty to the nation by highlighting the threat to Barauni Industrial Complex in case the villagers succeeded in breaching the bund. He also explained that the local police was incapable of facing the locals. Unable to contact my unit deployed in the Rajasthan desert, I agreed to do their bidding in the interim. I divided the bund into platoon sub-sectors and established required control rooms. Round the clock patrolling of the bund was organised.
One day, an MLA of a neighbouring constituency visited me and asked me to send a party with a few boats to his area. On query he replied that there were no floods in his area, yet he wanted Army’s presence. “Your visit will help me on two counts. One, I will be able to show my concern for my voters and secondly, getting the Army will prove my clout. I can claim that for my voters’ sake I could even get the Army,” he said. I could not decline such an honest request and sent a small party for a few hours. The MLA was personally there to receive my party and drew full publicity mileage out of the visit.
After a fortnight, flood waters started receding and threat to the industrial complex abated. I requested the SDO to derequisition my column as we wanted to prepare for the impending war. The SDO agreed but the DM vacillated. We stayed on for weeks without doing any worthwhile task. On repeated querying, the SDO revealed that the DM was not agreeable. “By keeping you here the DM is ensuring his own safety. In case nothing untoward happens, he will get credit for timely requisitioning of the Army and thus averting disaster. In case things take a turn for the worse, he can always seek protection under the plea that even the Army could not prevent a calamity,” he confided. I was aghast and approached Army’s Sub-Area Commander at Patna. It was his intervention with the state government that facilitated our move back to the unit.
While taking leave of the SDO, I thanked him for his assistance. As we had developed some sort of rapport over the weeks, his parting words were, “Hope to see you next year. Floods here have become an industry. All wait for them every year. The villagers want them, the politicians want them and even the administration wants them. Floods help generate funds for the politicians to fight elections. Bureaucracy regularizes all losses and deficiencies by showing them against floods. The whole economy is dependent on floods. Management and garnering of the central aid and flood relief funds is a highly lucrative business. For most, a flood-free year is a non-remunerative year, akin to a drought.”
“If the administration wants it can make pucca bunds like the ones made by Holland. But that will eliminate floods and nobody wants to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” he added.
I rejoined the unit just in time for moving to the war zone. In the heat of battle, memories of Barauni flood relief faded into the background. In the beginning of 1973, I was awarded Chief of the Army Staff’s commendation for my “exceptional devotion to duty in protecting the Gupta-Lakhminia Bund from breaching by the flood waters of the river Ganga and thereby saving the industrial complex at Barauni”. Thus, nature of the real threat faced by the bund never found any mention in official records.
Combat Engineer Support in Siachen Glacier
According to the Indian scriptures, all areas above the tree line are unfit for habitation. Such areas are ascended by humans at the end of their ‘van-prasth’ stage to seek salvation, as was done by the Pandavas. Such an assertion is also supported scientifically. Lack of flora and fauna, coupled with acute shortage of oxygen and excessive intensity of ultra-violet rays make such areas highly unsuitable for human living.
Siachen Glacier at a height of over 18,000 feet is the world’s highest battlefield with posts located at 22,000 feet. The altitude, weather and terrain form an ominous combination to test limits of human endurance. Enormity of effort required for living and fighting at that altitude can be gauged from the fact that the highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc at 15,774 ft and climbers carry oxygen with them.
At Siachen, in addition to hostile activities of the enemy, soldiers endure lethal avalanches, blinding snow-storms and treacherous crevasses. Blizzards last for weeks and temperatures dip down to minus 60 degrees centigrade. Helicopters, the sole means of communication, become inoperative and the area remains cut-off for prolonged periods.
A word about soldiering in such environment will be in order here. It is only then that the role of combat engineers can be fully appreciated. As regards physical well-being, a large number of soldiers suffer due to pulmonary oedema and other high-altitude diseases. Frost bites result in loss of limbs in numerous cases. During adverse weather conditions, many lives are lost due to non-operation of helicopters for timely evacuation of the sick. Due to rarefied atmosphere, soldiers lose appetite and avoid eating meals, resulting in debilitation. Officers have to make troops eat their meals sitting in front of them.
Oxygen-deprivation, prolonged isolation and constant threat to life generate acute psychological, psychosomatic and mental duress. Such an environment also makes many soldiers excessively religious. Most stop drinking liquor and eating meat, some for personal fulfillment and some to placate gods. Some soldiers tend to assign usual natural occurrences to supernatural phenomena. Hallucinations blur the difference between fact and imagination.
In a few cases, sense of loneliness results in a feeling of being overwhelmed, forcing soldiers to withdraw into their shells. At times, indecisiveness, pessimism and inability to concentrate result in cognitive impairment and memory problems. Anxiety, tension and restlessness cause mood swings and short tempers. Officers have to continuously monitor mental and physical health of their soldiers.
Provision of combat engineering support in such an uncongenial environment poses unique problems and there are no standard solutions. The author had the privilege to command the renowned 113 Engineer Regiment in Siachen. Here is a first person account of the engineer support extended.
Challenges of Combat Engineering Support
Combat engineering is a generic term used to define military engineering support in the furtherance of a commander’s plan. The primary role of the combat engineers is to provide support to facilitate movement of own forces while impeding that of the enemy. Normal combat engineering tasks include basic field engineering, water supply, demolitions, field defences, waterman-ship, mine warfare and bridging.
Siachen being a unique battlefield, the extent and scope of engineering support is not limited to the standard tasks but encompasses every single facet of soldiering. Further, the engineers have to perform under severe constraints. There are no local resources available. Every single requirement has to be either para-dropped or transported in helicopters or hauled over long distances on man-pack basis. For man-pack carriage, no item can be heavier than 10 kg and longer than 6 feet.
Due to inclement weather conditions, working season is highly limited. White-out conditions last for days at a stretch. As engineers have to work while wearing snow gloves, grasping of small items like nuts and bolts becomes tricky. Before undertaking any major task in the glacier, it has to be practiced thoroughly at the base. All components have to be duly marked and numbered. Loading tables have to be prepared meticulously to cater for all eventualities. Shortage of even a small item can stall the progress till it is received from the base.
Making of anchorages in glacial snow is an engineering nightmare. Deposition of up to 30 feet of snow in winters and its melting in summers necessitate periodic relocation of all facilities.
Improving Habitat and Survivability
In the case of Siachen, mere survival is a huge challenge and the engineers have to devote considerable effort to make habitat as safe and comfortable as possible. Standard snow tents used by mountaineers are of little use. They cannot withstand relentless blizzards and do not last long. Troops need a more stable and capacious shelter that can be kept warm with keroheaters. Most importantly, the shelters have to be pre-fabricated with manportable components for carriage to the remotest posts.
Engineers