N Vidyadharan Mandadi

Biography

Naib Subedar N Vidyadharan Mandadi served with 18 Engineering Regiment of the Corps of Engineers, one of the oldest arms of the Indian Army. Combat engineers provide mobility to their own forces by building bridges, tracks and helipads, while denying it to the enemy through obstacles such as minefields and demolitions. His unit specialised in the construction of bridges and tracks and was equipped with the necessary manpower and material. During 2005, his regiment was based at Chandimandir, Punjab. In June 2005 the Army was tasked with rebuilding four bridges at Kharo, Khab, Leo and Akpa, which had been washed away in the Parechu lake floods. These bridges were the lifeline of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. In September 2005 his team was assigned to reconstruct the bridge at Kharo on National Highway 22, the Hindustan-Tibet Road. On 8 September 2005, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Amardeep Singh, Naib Subedar Mandadi and forty other soldiers began the operation. After the bridge was launched, while wooden slabs were being fixed onto the iron beams of the 80-tonne, 60-metre span, it suddenly collapsed at the centre, likely due to a technical fault. Most soldiers fell into the swift Sutlej. Naib Subedar Mandadi laid down his life in the line of duty.