Lt Col Amardeep Singh

Lt Col Amardeep Singh hailed from Chandigarh in Punjab. He was commissioned into the 18 Engr Regt of the Corps of Engineers, one of the oldest arms of the Indian Army. The corps was established in the year 1780 when the two regular pioneer companies of the Madras Sappers were raised. Subsequently, the Group of Madras, Bengal and Bombay Sappers were formed and later merged on 18 November 1932 to form the Corps of Engineers.  The Corps of Engineers consisting of three major constituents namely Combat Engineers, MES (Military Engineering Service) and Border Roads also provided officers to the Military Survey and Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO). 

The main role of combat engineers was to provide mobility to own forces by constructing bridges, tracks and helipads; on the other hand denying the same to the enemy by creating obstacles such as laying mine-fields and demolition of bridges. Lt Col Amardeep Singh's unit 18 Engr Regt had the expertise in constructing bridges and tracks and was equipped with the required men and material. By 2005, Lt Col Amardeep Singh had put in substantial number of years of service and had undertaken various operational engineering tasks in support of combat operations. 

Bailey Bridge Collapse : 08 Sep 2005

During 2005, Lt Col Amardeep Singh was serving with 18 Engr Regt located in Chandi Mandir in Punjab. In June 2005, Indian Army was tasked to reconstruct four new bridges at Kharo, Khab (15 km from Pooh on way to Kaurik, the last point on the crucial highway), Leo and Akpa which were washed away in floods of Parechu lake.  Akpa which was located near the Sutlej river of Punjab, was the main link from Reckong Peo to the upper areas of Pooh, Sumdo, Spiti and other areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. It was also considered as the lifeline of upper Kinnaur. In Sep 2005, Lt Col Amardeep Singh was tasked to lead his team of 18 Engr Regt to reconstruct the bridge at Kharo, located on the National Highway 22, also known as the Hindustan-Tibet Road, the lifeline of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh. 

On 08 Sep 2005, Lt Col Amardeep Singh along with his unit officer Capt MM Bokil and 40 other soldiers began the operation after carefully assessing the condition. The bridge was launched successfully after the crucial first stage was completed. In the second stage, the wooden slabs were to be fixed on iron beams of the 80-tonne and 60-metre long bridge. Lt Col Amardeep Singh also ordered his men to recheck the nuts and bolts that were fixed in between the iron beams of the bridge.  However, when the soldiers of 18 Engineers Regiment were fixing the wooden slabs on iron beams, the bridge suddenly collapsed from the centre, possibly due to some technical fault.  As a result, all the soldiers fell into the river except for four of them, who were wearing safety belts.  A rescue operation was launched by the Army immediately on receiving information about the incident and MI-17 helicopter from Sarsawa and Cheetah helicopters from Jalandhar were pressed into service. The divers from special forces were airlifted from Nahan and were dropped at Karcham to look for survivors.

The rescue teams had to brave conditions which were extremely challenging and demanding due to the deep gorges and rapid currents of the Satluj river. The bodies eventually could be traced after a long drawn rescue operation. Besides Lt Col Amardeep Singh, the other 33 brave hearts who lost their lives included Capt MM Bokil, Nb Sub NV Mandadi  Hav C Ramachandran, Hav Sasi Kumar V,  Hav A Arokia Dass, Hav Raviselvan P, Hav R Muniappan, Nk Mali Reddy V, Nk Jagadeesan B, Spr Sridharan J, Spr Natesan L, Spr Suresh K, Spr R Sanjai Gandhi, Spr Suresh V, Spr J Suresh Kumar, Spr P Saravana Kumar, Spr MR Bhasha, Spr Lakshmi Kanth M, Spr Srinivasan M, Spr M Sundaravadhanam, Spr Rangarao, Spr Manjunath Shivalli, Spr S Muthuraj, Spr Raja Velu S, Spr Krishnappa K, Spr K Malabannavar, Spr Palani A, Spr Sankar, Spr Adiveppa Hudali, Spr T Jeyachandran, Spr Sarveypalli SK, Spr VVN Govardhan Gantala and Spr N Gangadhar. 

Lt Col  Amardeep Singh was a gallant soldier and an officer par excellence, who laid down his life in the line of his duty. Lt Col Amardeep Singh survived by his wife Smt Manreet Rana, daughter Gulnaaz and son Fatehveer.