New Delhi (NVI): Rescuers continue to dig through the rubble inside a damaged tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Tapovan in the hope of finding survivors, six days after a glacier disaster struck a hydel power plant.
As of now, there has been no breakthrough because of heavy boulders and muck beyond 100m in the tunnel.
Around 30 people are feared trapped inside the tunnel.
In a change of strategy, rescuers are focusing on drilling through the hardened debris in the tunnel in Chamoli district, rather than just shifting mounds of silt and sludge deposited there by the sudden flood.
Earlier on Thursday, the rescue operation was temporarily halted following a rise in the level of water in the Rishiganga River.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Army are part of the multi-agency rescue effort.
So far, as many as 36 bodies have been recovered, of which 10 have been identified, from different areas hit by the glacier burst in Chamoli district, while 169 persons out of the total 204 are still missing.
In addition to this, due to the rising water level in Rishiganga, the people living in the nearby areas are being alerted, according to Chamoli police.
A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.
-CHK
