Dehradun: In the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Sunday, a part of the Nanda Devi Glacier collapsed, causing a sudden flood in the Rishiganga Valley. This has led to the death of at least seven people working in two hydroelectric projects there and over 125 laborers missing. The SDRF has begun its rescue operation on the tunnel near Tapovan Dam in Chamoli. The canine squad was also deployed to carry out search operations near Tapovan Dam in Chamoli.
Floods in the Ganges tributaries – Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda – caused panic and mass destruction in the high mountain regions. NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project and Rishiganga Project Hydropower Project suffered major losses and many of their workers got stuck in the tunnel. Uttarakhand, Chamoli police said, the operation to rescue those trapped in the tunnel is going on. Efforts are on to clean the tunnel with the help of JCB machine. A total of 15 people have been rescued and 14 bodies have so far been recovered from various places.
At the time of the destruction of the water, many workers working in Tapovan’s power project got stuck in the tunnel. These include 15 youths from village Babu Purva, Bherampur, Manjha and Kadia of Nighasan tehsil area who went to work in the power project. Since the accident, the relatives are not getting any contact with them. There is chaos in the family. Everyone is in bad health.
A laborer who survived the tragedy gave this information to his family members and said that he survived but 15 companions working with him were either swept away or trapped in the tunnel. As soon as the information of the missing laborers was reported, they tried to contact them over the phone, but could not talk to anyone.
There are villages Babu Purva, Bherampur, Manjha, and village Kadia located on Indo Nepal border of the Nighasan tehsil area. Five youths of Babupurwa village Hiralal, Suraj, Arjun, Vimlesh, Dharmendra, and Arun are still missing, no information has been received. 10 youths are also from Bherampur and Manjha villages with whom the relatives are not able to contact.
15 bodies have been found so far
A young man who went with all of them survived during the devastation caused by the blast of Vimal Glacier. He informed his family by phone that all the companions have disappeared by drowning in the strong currents of water. On receiving this information, there was chaos in the village. Weeds engulf the entire village. Significantly, 155 people are feared dead in this tragedy. So far 15 bodies have been removed.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who returned to take stock of the affected area, told reporters in Dehradun in the evening that so far the bodies of seven persons have been recovered in the disaster and at least 125 are missing. The houses which came in the way of flood were washed away. There are fears of damage to human settlements in the lower reaches. Many villages have been evacuated and people have been evacuated to safer places. By the evening, it was assumed that the low-lying areas were safe and the Central Water Commission said that the nearby villages were not threatened, but the water level of the Dhauli Ganga River rose again on Sunday night.
This led to panic among the people living in the surrounding areas. Authorities had to stop the ongoing relief and rescue work in a project area for some time due to the sudden rise in the water level of Dhauli Ganga at around 8 pm on Sunday night. The project’s general manager (GM) said that the operation to rescue about 30-35 stranded people, including workers and other employees, will be resumed on Monday morning in a tunnel in the hydroelectric project area.
In an emergency meeting held here on Sunday evening in New Delhi, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba was informed that a small 13.2 MW hydroelectric project on the Rishiganga river has been washed away due to the breaking of the glacier in Uttarakhand. But there is no risk of flooding in low-lying areas as the water level has returned to normal. An official spokesperson said that the NCMC was also informed that people trapped in a hydroelectric project tunnel have been rescued by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while efforts are on to rescue those trapped in another tunnel.
The campaign is being coordinated by the Army and the ITBP. A spokesperson of the ITBP said that due to the collapse of the bridge near Raini village at the project site, contact with the border posts has been completely limited. Several districts including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun have been put on high alert and ITBP and National Disaster Response Force have been sent for rescue and relief. Indian Meteorological Department has said that there is no possibility of rain in the area for the next two days. The Chief Minister also announced a compensation of Rs four lakh to the families of the deceased. Meanwhile, all the 16 laborers trapped in a tunnel have been safely evacuated.
SS Butola, deputy commandant of ITBP, Auli, told that 16 workers trapped in the tunnel have been safely evacuated. Around 176 laborers were working in the 13.2 MW Rishiganga Project and NTPC’s 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad Project at the time of floods, which was confirmed by Chief Minister Rawat himself. Apart from these, two policemen doing duty in the Rishiganga project are also missing. However, some of these 176 laborers ran out. The Chief Minister said, “According to an estimate the missing people maybe around 125 or even more. Those who belong to the company are also not in a position to tell more because of missing the paper. ”
Both hydropower projects have suffered heavy losses due to floods. Top officials of both projects have started assessing the damage. After the flood, an alert was sounded in the surrounding areas of the Alaknanda and Ganga rivers in the entire Garhwal region. But by evening, the flooded Rishiganga river had a severe water shortage, ending the warning situation. State Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said that there is no danger now and the water level in the Alaknanda river is normal.
Due to the flood in the upper catchment area of Rishiganga originating from the Nanda Devi National Park, the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers took a form of haze, creating panic in many parts of the Garhwal region. According to eyewitnesses, in the morning, the water level of the Dhauli Ganga showed increasing with loud noises. The water was moving in the form of a storm and he carried away everything that came in his way. A motorway and four suspension bridges have been washed away by floods in Raini. Contact has been severed from seven villages where the delivery of relief material is done by the army.
