With the recovery of four more bodies on Tuesday, the death toll from the Uttarakhand glacier disaster rose to 30, even as a multi-agency operation to rescue around 35 workers feared trapped inside a swamped tunnel at the Tapovan power project in Chamoli district continued on Tuesday, officials said, reported PTI.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat conducted an aerial survey of areas affected due to the glacier disaster in the state and took stock of the situation. Personnel of the ITBP, NDRF and Army worked to locate around 170 people, mostly labourers working at two power projects, who are still reported missing. Officials said rescue operations are centred around a 1,900-metre-long tunnel at NTPC’s Tapovan site, where at least 35 people are believed to be trapped. A barrage at the project site had been washed away in the flood that saw water rise up to 70 feet, leading to debris blocking the 20-feet-wide opening of the tunnel. An investigation is continuing into what caused the suspected glacial burst.
The glacier burst took place at the Rishiganga power project after a portion of Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Tapovan area of Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday morning and damaged the Rishiganga dam on Alaknanda river. The floodwaters burst open a dam and a deluge of water poured through a valley in the state of Uttarakhand on Sunday. Most of the missing are believed to be workers from two hydropower plants.
