Sepoy Khushyal Singh

Sepoy Khushyal Singh hailed from Bawaria village in Palwal district of Haryana and was born on 20 Oct 1976. Son of Shri Satbir Singh Payla and Smt Anguri Devi, he had five brothers as his siblings. After completing his 12th Std at the Govt school Bata Palwal, he joined the army in Dec 1995 at the age of 19 years. He was inducted into the Army Medical Corps, the corps which provides medical services to the army during peace as well as war. After serving for some time, he got married to Ms Maya Devi and the couple was blessed with a daughter Sonia.

Siachen Glacier Avalanche (Amar Post) : 21 Nov 2003

During 2003, Sep Khushyal Singh was serving with 403 Field Ambulance unit, that was deployed in the Siachen area. This sector was one of the most remote parts of the glacier and remained inaccessible during winter. The troops besides manning designated posts also operated regular patrols to monitor the area along the border. Sep Khushyal Singh as part of 403 Fd Amb was responsible to provide medical care to all the troops deployed in the area. The soldiers faced extreme risks in manning the inhospitable terrain at heights over 19,000 feet under extreme weather conditions on the world’s highest battlefield. Avalanches usually took place due to the accumulation of snow and were triggered by morning sunlight. In other cases, when the slope of accumulated snow was between 60 to 80 degrees, the instability led to an avalanche. Although the Army had a unit of the Snow Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) in Jammu and Kashmir, with several observatories at various locations to issue warnings and alerts to the Army formations and units, it sometimes failed to detect an avalanche. One such avalanche struck the troops deployed at "Amar post" on 21 Nov 2003 at Siachen, which included Sep Khushyal Singh and few other soldiers. 

As a result, Sep Khushyal Singh and two more soldiers got buried under tons of snow. As it happened all of sudden, the soldiers did not get any time to take any evasive action. Following the incident, the rescue operation was launched by the army with a team, equipped with specialized types of equipment. However, the soldiers had got buried under several feet of snow and it was very difficult to locate them. After searching for two days, eventually Sep Khushyal Singh's body was located on 23 Nov 2003. Despite the herculean efforts, Sep Khushyal Singh could not be saved, owing to his prolonged exposure to extreme cold conditions. Sep Khushyal Singh was a brave and dedicated soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 27 years in the line of his duty.

Sep Khushyal Singh is survived by his father Shri Satbir Singh Payla, mother Smt Anguri Devi, wife Smt Maya Devi and daughter Sonia.