ENGINEERS OF HIMALAYA
My buildings will be my legacy. They will speak for me long after I’m gone.
- Julia Morgan
It was 2315 hrs, somewhere in Ladakh sector, month of November, altitude being 17000ft, temperature dropping to -30 degree Celsius and my 7th day at location, body was still acclimatising to the altitude and severe cold, when my intercom rang. Electrician Sunil was on the line and seemed to be bit tensed. His tone was different and with occasional gasping he conveyed that there is breakdown in Generator(genset). In forward areas diesel genset are the most reliable source of power coupled with solar plants, to minimal scale. Any problem with genset means, you are off with power and there will be no electricity.
Quickly gathering myself from doziness and gaining sense, I rushed to the generator room to analyse for myself. The challenge could be felt from the environment which was outside the FRP hut at that time. Temperature was -20° C, extremely windy, sound of growling animals of dog family could be heard not from far and part of the body exposed would stop sending any signal to brain of any excruciation. This distance of 50 meters seemed as marathon. Gaining all the strength I paced through the path and reached the room to witness a more horrifying situation. It was all smoke inside the room and M-oil was outpouring of the vent. Being civil engineer and hardly any knowledge about working of generator, I was a mere spectator to the situation and deputy to electrician Sunil. Taking control of the situation and gaining some sense of the matter we both started looking at the possibilities of repairing the genset with all the sources and time we had.
After closing the generator, smoke started to settle and so the heat, in return reducing the ambient temperature which was soon planning to reach that of surrounding viz. -20°C. After taking the closer look, Sunil suggested that sir we don’t have enough tools to repair it on our own and anyhow we have to do it tonight so that electricity can supplied to the camp at earliest. I was thinking of taking help from the nearby army formation but later dropped the idea taking all the possibilities into picture and the climate outside. So, we were on our own and aim was to repair this unit at any cost and time was till first light.
Beating all the odds, Sunil started his work with will. For me it was dreadful to see him working without any gloves on to protect his hand as it might become difficult to work with gloves on. Therefore, in every five minute he was using warmth of K-oil stove to secure some relief from numbing hands. Temperature was parachuting on downward spiral and every passing moment was testing our limit. He himself being new to such problem took 40 mins or so identify the main cause for breakdown and investigation revealed that culprit was cold and low pressure, interestingly what else can you except from a machine designed to operate in cities, was being tested at 17000 ft altitude and bone freezing temperature.
The electricity is not only for operational requirement but the pump used to draw water also works on it. The jawans watch television and hut being enclosed are dark, so require electricity to operate illuminating devices. The functioning of computers also depends on electricity being supplied from gensets.
After one hour of struggle, we finally got some result as genset started functioning again but this was only the temporary solution and there was a need to either transport this generator to Leh or call the mechanic to the location so that the damaged part could be replaced. This entire operation was difficult not because we were trying to tame untamed horse but we were testing our own body to limit. Exposing ourselves to such a temperature for so long was not a decision sane people take. But this is why in force you are asked to keep major part of logic aside in order to complete the task in hand and that’s what we were up to at that time. The only goal was to bring electricity by morning. We were fighting a battle against our comfort zone and mind, every now and then, was popping a thought to stop it there itself. Those two hours of struggle had all the worth. We were fighting for our men, for their comfort who can give their everything to protect the land we were guarding.
These are the challenges that engineering branch of ITBP occasionally come across, be it water supply to some of the toughest location, construction of structure by testing the limits of RCC and variation in design taking local climatic factor into consideration which are not taught in any text book during graduations. These challenges that we come across during our work and satisfaction of fulfilling these challenges is what makes us unique and one of the most professional, industrious and determined engineering task force of the world.
Lastly concluding, this is in honor of electrician Sunil and many tradesmen like him who are even willing to keep their life at risk in order to fulfill their duty when time demands it from them.
