The 136 people currently missing in the aftermath of a glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district have been declared dead. The toll in the calamity that hit the Rishiganga valley on February 7 has now risen to 68 while 136 people are still missing.
The NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project had been extensively damaged in the flash flood while the Rishiganga hydel project was totally destructed. The rescuers had recovered 68 bodies till Monday. Fourteen bodies were recovered from the Tapovan tunnel, the centre of the massive multi-agency rescue mission. Besides, 28 human limbs have also been recovered from different places in the affected area out of which one has been identified. Thirty-three bodies out of the 68 recovered so far have also been identified, police said, adding the DNAs of unidentified bodies are being preserved. The glacial burst over Rishiganga had triggered an avalanche and massive flooding which had demolished a 13.2 MW hydel project along the river besides causing extensive damage to the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project along Dhauliganga.
