Uttarakhand floods highlights: Death toll rises to 32, 197 missing; rescue operations continue in Tapovan tunnel

20 people have lost their lives and 197 are missing after a glacier broke off in Joshimath, causing flash floods in Dhauli Ganga river in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. Two power projects in the area were also damaged. The Indo-Tibetan Border Force, the Indian Army, NDRF and state disaster rescue forces are conducting rescue operations.

Thank you for following Deccan Herald's live updates on Uttarakhand floods. We will see you tomorrow!

Click here for more updates.

Uttarakhand glacier burst: 13 villages lose road connectivity

Thirteen villages in the Himalayan ranges have lost road connectivity as five bridges, including one on the road outside the village and stretching to the China border were washed away during Sunday’s landslide triggered by a glacier burst.

Read more here

Uttarakhand: Families await reunion with loved ones trapped in tunnel

Camping at Tapovan since the glacier tragedy struck in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, the hope of being reunited with their missing kin brings them every morning to the banks of the Dhauli Ganga, half a kilometre from Tapovan, where intense efforts are underway to trace around 30-35 people trapped inside a tunnel that belongs to the project.

Read more here

Indian Army steps up rescue efforts in Uttarakhand, death toll mounts to 31

Army on Tuesday stepped up efforts to rescue 37 persons trapped in a tunnel of an NTPC hydel project here even as the death toll from the landslide triggered by a glacier burst rose to 31.

Read more here

Floodlights are lit around the Tapovan tunnel area where rescuers are searching for trapped workers in Chamoli district on February 9, 2021 following a flash flood thought to have been caused when a glacier burst on February 7. Credit: AFP photo.

Miracle that I'm alive: Villagers recount horror of Uttarakhand disaster

“It is a miracle that I am alive. I was tossed aside by the impact of the landslide,” Godambari Devi, a resident of this remote village in Chamoli district. (Photo credit: Special arrangement)

Read more here

Desperate search for survivors after Uttarakhand glacier disaster

Rescue workers struggled on Tuesday to dig away tonnes of rocks and mud to reach survivors in a choked Himalayan tunnel after a devastating flash flood likely triggered by a glacial burst.

Read more here

197 people missing. 32 bodies recovered so far from various locations, 8 of these identified. People, who know someone who is missing, can contact DIG Law & Order on [phone], they'll be sent photos of 24 bodies that are yet to be identified, on WhatsApp: Uttarakhand Police.

Rescue work in progress at Raini village near Joshimath where a glacier burst induced landslide washed away NTPC power projects. Atleast 200 people are missing. (Credit: Special arrangement)

Uttarakhand disaster: 70 from Uttar Pradesh, including 34 from Lakhimpur Kheri, missing

At least 70 people from Uttar Pradesh are feared missing in the glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district that triggered an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations on Sunday, officials said.

Read more here

Ramchandra Guha's 6 lessons from the Uttarakhand floods

The flash floods that swept Central Uttarakhand's Chamoli district is the latest in a longlist of calamities that have struck the Himalayan state over the past 40-50 years. The disaster, which took place on Sunday claimed the lives of 20 people, with 197 still missing.

Read more here

What caused Uttarakhand flash floods? Experts explain

A rock mass, weakened due to years of freezing and thawing of snow, may have led to the creation of a weak zone, triggering its collapse that resulted in flash floods in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, initial observations by scientists of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) suggest.

Read more here

ITBP has set up its control room and its 450 jawans are carrying out search and rescue operation. 5 teams of NDRF are at the site. 8 teams of Army also there, one medical column and an ambulance are also positioned at the site of the incident. A diving team of Navy is also there: Home Ministry.

197 persons missing, 20 dead in Uttarakhand flood: Home Minister Amit Shah

As many as 197 people are missing while 20 people have died due to floods in Uttarakhand, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Read more here

Government will help Jharkhand folk trapped in Uttarakhand: CM Hemant Sorenn

Jharkhand government will provide all kind of help to the people of the state trapped in the glacier disaster in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said. He said the Jharkhand government's Labour Department has opened a control room to help the people of the state trapped in the natural disaster in Uttarakhand.

Read more here

US condoles deaths in Uttarakhand flood, wishes for a speedy recovery of injured

The US has condoled the loss of lives due to the avalanche caused by a glacial burst in India's Uttarakhand state and extended wishes for a speedy recovery of those injured.

Read more here

Adityanath deputes three UP ministers to Uttarakhand for coordinating relief works

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday sent a team of three ministers to Uttarakhand for better coordination with the state in carrying out relief works after the glacier disaster, an official spokesman said here.

A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier possibly burst through its banks in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to an avalanche and a deluge that ripped through the Alaknanda river system in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. Twenty-eight bodies have been recovered so far and around 170 others are missing. (PTI)

Jharkhand govt will provide help to people of state trapped in Uttarakhand disaster: CM

Jharkhand government will provide all kind of help to the people of the state trapped in the glacier disaster in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said.

He said the Jharkhand government's Labour Department has opened a control room to help the people of the state trapped in the natural disaster in Uttarakhand. (PTI)

JUST IN | Toll in Uttarakhand glacier disaster rises to 31 with five more bodies recovered: State Emergency Control Centre.

JUST IN | All concerned agencies of Centre and State are monitoring the situation: Union Home Minister Amit Shah about Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, in Rajya Sabha.

JUST IN |Rescue team has managed to reach Malari Valley area through rope andnow necessary packages, ration can be sent easily. Earlier, only a limited stock could be supplied via helicopter but there won't be any problem now: Uttarakhand CM T S Rawat

Toll climbs to 28 in Uttarakhand disaster, CM undertakes aerial survey of affected areas

Two more bodies of the around 170 missing in the Uttarakhand disaster were recovered from the debris in Raini village on Tuesday, while rescuers worked through tonnes of muck and slush to rescue around 30 workers trapped in a tunnel at a power project site in Tapovan.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who reached Tapovan on Monday evening to review rescue efforts, undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas on Tuesday and also met 12 workers who were rescued from the tunnel on Sunday evening. (PTI)

JUST IN | CM Trivendra Singh Rawat visited 1st Battalion ITBP Joshimath Hospital to see the 12 labourers rescued by the ITBP on February 7 from a tunnel near Tapovan in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. All are recovering.

The Indian Army informed on Tuesday that the operation tasks for the day have commenced in Uttarakhand. "Mi-17 airborne from Dehradun for Joshimath with NDRF personnel on board. An ALH carrying DRDO's DGRE scientists is undertaking a recce of Tapovan area and glacier," the Army stated. (ANI)

US condoles deaths in Uttarakhand flood, wishes for a speedy recovery of injured

The US has condoled the loss of lives due to the avalanche caused by a glacial burst in India's Uttarakhand state and extended wishes for a speedy recovery of those injured.

"Our thoughts are with our Indian friends and partners during this challenging time. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and we hope for a successful rescue effort and a speedy and full recovery for the injured," Ned Price, spokesperson of the Department of State told reporters, said. (PTI)

JUST IN | Chief Minister T S Rawat held an aerial survey of the area on February 9.

The operation was carried out the entire night and is under progress. A lot of debris has been removed. We have not been able to establish any contact till now: Aparna Kumar, DIG Sector HQ, ITBP, Dehradun

JUST IN |Rescue operation at the tunnel in Chamoliis underway, DGP Ashok Kumar said."We are hopeful that we'll be able to clear the way by noon," he added.

Before Himalayan flood, India ignored warnings of development risks

Long before the floods came, washing away hundreds of people and wiping out newly constructed dams and bridges, the warning signs were clear.

The Himalayas have been warming at an alarming rate for years, melting ice long trapped in glaciers, soil and rocks, elevating the risk of devastating floods and landslides, scientists warned. Nearby populations were vulnerable, they said, and the region’s ecosystem had become too fragile for large development projects.

But the Indian government overrode the objections of experts and the protests of local residents to blast rocks and build hydroelectric power projects in volatile areas like the one in the northern state of Uttarakhand, where disaster struck. (NYT)

Tapovan tunnel rescue by ITBP

Tapovan tunnel rescue by ITBP: Clearing of debris/slush continued the whole night. Approx 120 metres of the tunnel entrance stretch is now clear. Height of accumulated slush reduced more. ITBP personnel are waiting to enter as soon as any movement deep inside the tunnel is possible.

Uttarakhand disaster: Engineer from Srinagar missing

An engineer from Kashmir is among those missing following a glacier burst in Uttarakhand, officials said on Monday.

Basharat Ahmad Zargar, a resident of Soura area of Srinagar and working as a private company civil engineer at the Rishi Ganga power project in Uttarakhand, went missing after the glacier burst on Sunday morning, the officials said.

They said Zargar was still untraceable. (PTI)

Uttarakhand glacier disaster: Over 30 workers from UP's Lakhimpur Kheri missing

Over 30 people from Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri who worked at a hydro project in Uttrarakhand's Tapovan are missing after flash floods triggered by the breaking off a glacier caused extensive damage there.

The missing people belong to Nighasan tehsil of Lakhimpur Kheri district. (PTI)

China on Monday conveyed its condolences and sympathy to the families of the bereaved and the injured in the glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. (PTI)

Abrupt snowslide, not glacier burst, might have caused the calamity: Rawat says quoting scientists

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Monday quoted scientists to say that the areas where avalanches struck on Sunday was not prone to such activities, and the calamity might have been caused by an "abrupt sliding down" of millions of tonnes of snow from a hill, rather than due to a glacier burst. (PTI)

U'khand disaster: 26 bodies recovered, 171 missing; experts study cause

Twenty-six bodies have been recovered and 171 people still missing after the Uttarakhand disaster apparently caused by a glacier burst, officials said Monday, as multiple agencies worked at rescuing over 30 workers feared trapped in a tunnel at a power project site.

Officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre reported the recovery of more bodies and feared the death toll would rise, a day after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier possibly burst through its banks in Chamoli district.

It appeared to have triggered an avalanche and a deluge that ripped through the Alaknanda river system in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. (PTI)