More than 170 people are still missing in the flood-ravaged Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, with rescue agencies pulling out 26 bodies till Monday evening, a day after a devastating flash flood swept through three river valleys leaving a trail of destruction.
The Indian Army, ITBP and national as well as state disaster response forces worked overnight with generators to clear the 250-metre-long tunnel, where around 35 men are feared trapped. A majority are from a construction company that was carrying out the work for NTPC.
Subsequently, the rescue team entered the tunnel but did not receive any response from the men trapped inside.
“The team has reached the 130-metre mark in Tapovan tunnel. It may take 2-3 hours to reach the T-point. Efforts are underway to safely rescue those who are stuck in the tunnel,” said Uttarakhand Chief Minister T S Rawat, who would be staying at Joshimath overseeing the rescue operations.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said that efforts were focused on rescuing workers trapped in the tunnel at Tapovan.
The work was complicated as the tunnel is slightly curved, making it difficult to clear the debris and silt blocking it.
"Our teams worked overnight to rescue about 30 workers who are trapped in the tunnel. Specialised equipment for such operations has been deployed. We are hopeful we will be able to rescue everyone," said ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey.
According to the Uttarakhand Disaster Management Centre, as many as 197 people are missing while the Indo-Tibetan Border Police put the total at 202.
Two controversial power projects — NTPC’s 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project and the 13.2 MW Rishi Ganga Hydel Project — were extensively damaged. Union Power Minister R K Singh also visited the spot for an on the spot assessment.
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While both projects were opposed by environmentalists, a group of people from Raini village in Chamoli — one of the villages that bore the brunt of nature's fury on Sunday — had filed a PIL in the Uttarakhand High Court in 2019 against the Rishi Ganga hydel project.
Covered with mud, the entire landscape now looks sandy grey in colour as many structures were either swept away or buried under mounds of silt.
In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of Uttarakhand MPs and assured them of his government’s support to the hill state.