Uttarakhand glacier burst death toll increases to 54

The death toll in Uttarakhand Glacier burst incident has increased to 54 after rescuers found three more bodies at the disaster-hit Tapovan project in Chamoli district on Monday. A massive search and rescue operation continues in the tunnel at National Thermal Power Corporation’s 520 Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project site.

The flashflood had not only demolished the Rishiganga hydel project but also caused extensive damage to the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project. A massive tragedy had struck the hll state on February 7, which was possibly triggered by an avalanche in the upper areas of the Alaknanda river system.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) commandant PK Tiwari, said that his personnel are facing a few difficulties in taking out the bodies from the Tapovan tunnel.

“Tonnes of the debris is stuck inside the tunnel. There is a limitation to the amount of work that can be done,” Tiwari said.

Three more bodies were retrieved today from the Tapovan tunnel, taking the body count to 54 so far. Chamoli Police said that cases of 179 missing people have been registered at Joshimath Police Station so far.

The rescue teams recovered six bodies from the Tapovan power project tunnel, six from Raini upstream and one from the riverbank in Rudraprayag. As per officials, over 150 people still remain missing after the devastation.

The Uttarakhand Police on February 14 had said that the Alaknanda River at Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal is flowing at the normal level and no alert has been issued by the district administration.