170 missing, 30 trapped in tunnel after Uttarakhand floods: ITBP

Dehradun: Uttarakhand witnessed a major disaster after a glacier burst off Joshimath region in Chamoli district on Sunday. The glacier burst triggered flash floods which caused heavy damage to life and property in the region. Vivek Pandey, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Spokesperson, was quoted by ANI saying that as many as 12 people have been rescued from a tunnel so far from the first tunnel while search operation has been intensified in the second tunnel now, where nearly 30 people are believed to be trapped.

The ITBP Spokesperson informed that the local administration says that around 170 people are missing. "We've intensified search operation at the 2nd tunnel. We've information that around 30 people are trapped there. Around 300 ITBP jawans are deployed to clear the tunnel. Local administration says that around 170 people are missing", Pandey said. The official added that rescue operation is underway in different areas of the district. He added that more teams will be sent there if it is required and the focus lies on rescuing people from the tunnel first.

In a tweet, the Chamoli Police said that the operation to rescue the people trapped in a tunnel is underway, adding that efforts are on to clear the tunnel with the help of JCB machine. "A total of 15 people have been rescued and 14 bodies have been recovered from different places so far", the tweet added.

The Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district which caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangered lives of people living along its banks. The state-run power giant NTPC on Sunday said that an avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged its under-construction hydropower project. The Tapovan Vishnugad power plant is a 520MW run-of-river project which is being constructed on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand.