The rescue operation at the Tapovan hydel project tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, where about 35 workers were trapped after a snow avalanche triggered flash floods on Sunday, was halted on Thursday following reports of an increase in the water level of Dhauli Ganga river.
Read: Editorial | Troubled mountains
“The rescue team has been taken to a safe distance to avert any mishap. We also talked to some villagers living upstream, who said they had noticed a sudden increase in the water flow,” said an official.
In the early hours of the day, the team started a drilling operation to peep into another tunnel, in the hope of establishing contact with the trapped workers.
The joint team had been clearing sludge and debris from the main project tunnel in Tapovan for the past four days, but was not able to reach the T-junction where the workers are suspected to be trapped. NTPC officials later told the agencies that there was another tunnel about 12 m underneath where the workers might be located.
Accordingly, the drilling operation was initiated early on Thursday. “Rescue teams have started the drilling operation to peep into the tunnel 12 m below..We are presently at 6.5 m,” tweeted the Uttarakhand Director-General of Police, Ashok Kumar, in the morning.
Toll goes up
Meanwhile, the toll in the disaster has gone up to 36.
“A total of 36 bodies have been recovered from different places so far, including two this afternoon. Identities of 10 deceased have been determined. Families of 138 missing persons have contacted us as of now. We have created a WhatsApp group for sharing key information, including identification marks. We have also allowed people to file ‘missing person’ report at any nearby police station. DNA sampling is being done,” said Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) Nilesh Anand Bharne.
Also read: Uttarakhand flood | 71 from U.P. remain untraced
Mr. Bharne said letters had also been sent to various States seeking information on those missing and for the identification of bodies.
Among the missing persons, 70 are from Uttarakhand, 66 from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Jharkhand, 11 from Nepal, nine each from Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, six each from Punjab and West Bengal, four from Madhya Pradesh, three from Assam, two each from Delhi and Odisha and one each from Haryana and J&K.
