135 missing after Uttarakhand disaster to be declared dead: Officials

Chamoli: Uttarakhand health department has decided to declare those missing in the February 7 Chamoli disaster as “dead”, officials said.

Out of the initial 204 people missing, search and rescue workers have recovered 69 bodies and 135 are still missing.

The notification stated, “In normal circumstances, the birth and death certificates are issued to a person at the place where he is born or died. But in exceptional circumstances, like the Chamoli disaster, if a missing person is possibly dead beyond all possibilities of being alive but his body is yet to be found, in that case the authorities could declare him dead by issuing the death certificate to his family members after a required inquiry.”

A glacial burst over Rishiganga had triggered an avalanche, which had demolished a 13.2 MW hydel project along the river besides causing extensive damage to the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project along Dhauliganga.