A well organised and conducted Bengal Sappers Officers Association meet at DSOI Sector 36  , Chandigarh by CO 57 Engineer Regiment . Gen & Mrs SS Dahiya Colonel commandant Bengal Sappers was the guest of honor . Lt Col Mukesh Singh an officer from BEG& Centre Roorkee attended on behalf of Commandant, who briefed about activities of Bengal Group & Centre .

A Trophy was presented by Col Charanjit Singh Khera to Gen SS Dhayia , regarding Health welness Centre opened in his village Khera ,Distt Ludhiana by Punjab Govt , in memory of his father , known as

MAJOR HARBANS SINGH ,VSM SNOW TIGER HEALTH WELNESS CENTRE .

. The HWC is  providing free medicines & medical coverage to all the surrounding village of Khera and near by villages. It  facilitate free medical checkups by a Doctor along with provision of routine medicine and lab manned by Lab technician. The building complex also named as snow Tiger Complex

       This is with great pride for all Bengal Sappers that an Health wellness center has been opened in Vill Khera, Distt Ludhiana in memory of Great Bengal Sappers (Mechanical Engineer )officer  IC 2185 MAJOR HARBANS SINGH VSM , a  Para trooper too. This is the only HWC in Punjab , even India in the name of any army officer in his memory..

Photograph as captain above

2. This was all with the consent and approval of  Capt. Amarinder Singh Ex Chief Minister Punjab through his Punjab Health Minister S Balbir Singh Sidhu  for opening  New Health Wellness Centre at Vill Khera ,Distt Ludhiana in the name of Army officer and handed over authority letter to village Panchayat..

3. Late major Harbans Singh earned a nick name in Army Circles and especially in corps of Engineers as “ SNOW TIGER”  during 1962 Chinese aggression . Accordingly The New HWC was  named after  Major Harbans Singh VSM , named as

“Major Harbans Singh VSM,Snow Tiger, Health Wellness Center”

          FEW WORDS ABOUT MAJOR HARBANS SINGH

1.      Major Harbans Singh, son of Hardit Singh Nambardar (Village Khera), was born on January 12, 1919. He completed his matriculation from Malwa Khalsa High School.    On November 19, 1932, he joined the Bengal Engineers at Roorkee as a Sapper in 40 Para Company; he completed 21 parachute jumps and was subsequently commissioned as a Lieutenant on December 15, 1945.

4. Participated in the Burma War and was awarded the Burma Star and World War II medals.

5. He authored number of pamphlets and manuals on the maintenance of Caterpillars (dozers) ,  forward written by Col JS Dhillon then the  Commandant BEG & Centre  (  Late LT Gen JS Dhillon ,) and were taught is Plant school Roorkee .He  was regarded as an expert on heavy plant machinery. He once loaded a dozer onto a helicopter, assembled it at a mountain peak, and constructed a helipad.

6. During the 1962 war with China, he kept the Leh-Zojila road clear of snow which piled up to 10–20 feet high using Russian snow-clearing machinery; working 12 hours a day, he became renowned as the “Snow Tiger” in the Jammu & Kashmir sector.

7. Soldiers and senior commanders alike referred to him as the “Snow Tiger.” Later, in 1963, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) by the President of India, becoming the third Bengal sapper to be awarded  to receive this honor.

Russian Delegation came to India to see how their snow clearing machinery was working without any breakdown in high altitude

Indian Union Minister also visited baramula to know first hand information of snow clearance in lay-zozilla axis

10 He was posted at GREF Centre Roorkee where he was instrumental in raising Pioneer Platoons. He almost got approx. 500 men recruited in Boarder roads and Bengal sappers from Distt Ludhiana villages.

10. He was a consultant for the repairs of Dozers and snow-clearing machinery at Base repair workshop at Pathankot and later EME workshop Roorkee even Rookee University Professors .The  Russian delegation came to GREF Centre Roorkee to know how got heavy duty  dozer pistons  have been repaired   under his supervision. Even the delegation visited  Barmula to know status of their snow clearing ,machinery along with Indian union minister

11. He departed for his heavenly abode on January 19, 1974.

12.    Today,   third generation of his family is serving in the Army. His two sons are Bengal sapper  officers ,

Col Charanjit Singh Khera(Retd)

Col  S J Singh(Retd) .

grandson Colonel Sukhvinder Singh Khera from Bombay sappers

Second grand son  Lt Col Navshinder Singh currently serving in Bengal Sappers .However maximum relatives were Bengal Sappers .

Some quotes of senior officers of Bengal sappers in 1974 -75 .

Late Lt Gen JS Bawa Ex- Ein-C-“ I was his coy commander a great paratrooper and Mechanical Engineer”

Lt Gen JS Dhillon “ Was Known as Snow Tiger, with Vast knowledge of Plant  Machinery”

    ( C ) Lt Gen Wadhera “ No body in Indian army knew more about Dozers then Him”

     ( D )Late  Brig RS Sundaram , centre commandant on his funeral day “  He was a fatherly figure to Bengal  sappers troop  ,loved and respected by all, an officer of few words but professionally very

             sound”