20 Dead, 197 still missing; rescue team making its way inside tunnel

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Chamoli, Feb 08, 2021:    At least 20 bodies have been recovered and rescue teams have launched multiple operations to search for 197 people, including senior officials of the power plant, workers and two policemen, who are missing since the Nandadevi Glacier burst early yesterday causing a flash flood in the region.

 

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawant visited Joshimath again on Monday to take stock of the situation. "A joint team of NDRF, SDRF & Army is conducting a rescue operation. The team has reached the 130-metre mark in Tapovan tunnel, it may take 2-3 hrs to reach the t-point. Efforts underway to safely rescue those who are stuck in the tunnel," he said.

 

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: A joint team of ITBP, Army, SDRF, and NDRF inside the Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli for rescue operation. pic.twitter.com/VZ3SfCchK3

— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2021

"We were working inside the tunnel when someone shouted ’move out’. Before we could leave, the water gushed inside at high speed and we got stuck. We held onto the tunnel crown until water level subsided. Had lost all hope but ITBP saved us," said a worker who was pulled out along with 11 others from another blocked tunnel by a team of ITBP personnel yesterday.

Currently, a joint team of the ITBP, Indian Army, SDRF and NDRF has mounted a massive rescue mission to breach another tunnel inTapovan where 39 people, including plant workers and senior officials, are stuck. The team had earlier managed to enter the tunnel but could only reach about 100 metres before they were forced to retreat as sludge and water blocked their way.

A total of 20 bodies were recovered while 197 people are still missing after a glacier break in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district resulted in an avalanche and huge floods in the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers on Sunday morning, forcing the evacuation of thousands, and damaging both houses and the nearby Rishiganga and NTPC power projects. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced ₹ 4 lakh compensation for the family of those killed. Rawat also said teams from the police, the Army and the ITBP, as well as from the national and state disaster response forces, were "doing their best to save the lives of the workers at sites affected by the disaster".

Over 170 labourers -- 148 employed at the NTPC plant and 22 at Rishiganga -- are said to be missing, a spokesperson said while quoting the project-in charge. The massive flood came as a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge of 2013 which led to widespread devastation in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region. A devastating natural disaster in the form of torrential rains of unseen magnitude had struck Kedarnath on 16-17 June in 2013. The banks of the Chorabari lake in Kedarnath had collapsed due to a cloudburst that had resulted in a major flash flood causing widespread destruction in Uttarakhand and led to heavy losses to infrastructure, agriculture lands, human and animal lives.

However, unlike the Kedarnath tragedy which struck after a downpour, the flash flood on Sunday occurred on a bright and sunny morning which helped in relief and rescue operations by police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and ITBP personnel in the affected areas.

Several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind, prayed for the safety of the victims. Modi, who was in West Bengal and Assam as part of the BJP’s political campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls, said the Centre is providing all possible help. “I am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand, prays for everyone’s safety,” he said.