Uttarakhand glacier burst: Chamoli locals recount horror Chamoli district magistrate Swati S Bhadauria said work was temporarily halted as a precautionary measure. Amid mounting concern over the lives of those inside, the focal point of the rescue operation remains the 1.5-km head-race tunnel a part of the 2.5-km long network of tunnels. A drilling operation was started by the rescue teams at 2 am to peep into the slush-flushing tunnel that is about 12-13 metres below, Vivek Kumar Pandey, the spokesperson for the lead rescue agency, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said in Delhi. As the continuous flow of slush and silt remains a major obstacle between the rescuers and those trapped inside, a boring operation by a huge machine is being undertaken to see if this problem can be addressed in a different way and the teams can go further deep inside, he added.
As rescue personnel try to reach those trapped, family members say they are hopeful that their loved ones, too, will emerge from the tunnel soon
RAINI VILLAGE (CHAMOLI): As rescue personnel try to evacuate almost 35 workers stuck inside a tunnel at the site of the Tapovan-Vishnugad project of NTPC that suffered heavy damages in Sunday’s flash floods, trepidation and tension hangs in the air outside. The mood is made all the more sombre since relatives of those who are stuck inside – for over 36 hours now – are there at the site, fervently praying that their loved ones are safe.
Oblivious of the muck and slush that the flash floods left behind and the sharp winter chill, 58-year-old Pal Chand looks at the 950 metre-long tunnel which a joint team of ITBP, NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel has been trying to enter since Sunday evening – with hope in his eyes and a prayer on his lips.
Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel undertake rescue work at one of the hydropower project at Reni village in Chamoli district, in Indian state of Uttrakhund
DEHRADUN: Contrary to the initial claims that a glacier burst caused flash floods in Tapovan area of Chamoli district on Sunday, a fresh satellite assessment done by the Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), which is part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has indicated that a landslide in all likelihood triggered an avalanche, resulting in the flash floods.
The IIRS report which was submitted to the state government on Monday, says, “A landslide scar at an elevation of 5600 meters in the catchment of Rishiganga probably destabilised freshly- accumulated snow and initiated its downward movement.
NDRF personnel prepare to rescue workers at one of the hydro power project site at Reni village in Chamoli district of Indian state of Uttrakhund
DEHRADUN: The flash flood that claimed several lives in Chamoli on Sunday has brought the hydropower plant projects of Uttarakhand under the lens. Experts believe that the over-exploitation of rivers in the fragile Himalayan ecosystem is leading to several catastrophes.
At present, several hydel projects with a cumulative capacity of around 2594.85 MW are operational in Uttarakhand. In fact, India’s first hydro-power station was commissioned at Galogi near Mussoorie in 1907. The station still remains functional.
The flash floods struck the area near Raini village in Chamoli district on Sunday
DEHRADUN: Villagers of Raini village in Tapovan area of Chamoli that lies near the area which saw the maximum destruction caused by Sunday’s flash floods have expressed concerns that the flash floods may be the result of heat being produced by a radioactive device that was lost in 1965 during a secret expedition to Nanda Devi.
The expedition was conducted by American intelligence agency CIA and the Indian government’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) to plant nuclear-powered surveillance equipment on the summit of Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest mountain range (after Kanchenjunga) for spying on China. However, the mountaineering team conducting the expedition got caught in a blizzard and had to return, leaving the device at the base of the mountain. A year later, when they went back to the area, they could not find it; subsequent expeditions have also not been able to trace the device, which has a l