Uttarakhand glacier burst LIVE: Death toll rises to 35, 204 persons missing

18:45 February 11

Drilling operation inside Tapovan tunnel suspended

The director of National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPCs) Tapovan hydropower project - Ujjwal Bhattacharya on Thursday informed that they have suspended drilling operation for a time being as the water is coming in the tunnel in which at least 30 people are feared to be trapped inside. 

"We had reached a distance of 6 meters and then realised that water is coming there. Had we continued, there would have been issues as rocks are unstable. Excavators would have fallen. So, we have suspended drilling operation for time being," Bhattacharya said. 

Replying to a question, the in-charge of the project and engineer at NTPC Ahirwar said, "Workers, who were working there and are currently there, are safe. They are trained for 3 days, only then are they sent inside. 

They are also given pep talk from time to time. All the equipment is tested and certified. So, the crew that was working there is capable."

17:28 February 11

At least four persons including two brothers from Jansaur Babar village who worked in Chamoli remain untraceable five days after a glacier burst in  Uttarakhand.

16:35 February 11

Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya visited the tunnel rescue site in Chamoli district, today. She met ITBP officials to take stock of the ongoing rescue operation.

16:34 February 11

Death toll in Uttarakhand glacier burst rises to 35, 204 persons missing

Death toll in Uttarakhand glacier burst rises to 35, 204 persons missing

16:17 February 11

Operation resumes at tunnel in Joshimath, Chamoli

Operation resumes at tunnel in Joshimath, Chamoli 

Operation resumes at tunnel in Joshimath, Chamoli dist after it was temporarily halted following a rise in water level of Rishiganga river. NDRF personnel say, "Water level is rising so teams were shifted to safer locations. Operation has resumed with limited teams."

15:58 February 11

35 dead, massive rescue operation underway for trapped & missing

As a massive search, rescue and relief operation picked up pace in the disaster-hit areas of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, officials said 35 bodies have been recovered so far and over 170 people are still missing. The figures for the people killed in the disaster and those missing comes almost five days after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier burst. More than 600 Army, ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel are engaged in the search-and-rescue operations.

15:12 February 11

Rescue ops halted as water level surges in Rishiganga River

The rescue operation has temporarily halted in Chamoli district following a rise in the level of water in the Rishiganga River, informed Deputy General of Police (DGP) Uttarakhand Ashok Kumar on Thursday. 

"Orders have been given to vacate the areas downstream," he said. A rescue was underway inside the Tapovan tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Around 30 people are feared trapped inside the tunnel.

15:01 February 11

Death toll rises to 34, 204 people still missing

The death toll in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident has mounted to 34 and 204 persons are still missing, informed the State Secretariat on Thursday. 

Out of the 34 recovered dead bodies, 10 have been identified while 24 of them are yet to be identified. The Secretariat reported that the two persons working in the Rishi Ganga company informed to be missing before, have safely reached their homes. The rescue operations are underway inside Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli.  

"There is a possibility that some more people could be stuck inside the tunnel, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) team using vertical drilling to find their whereabouts," said Aparna Kumar, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

The ITBP troops are helping to construct Jhula Bridge across disconnected villages in Chamoli. The bridge will be used to transport ration from one side of the bridge to another side. 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.

12:24 February 11

Rescuers drilling tunnel to save trapped people

The rescue workers on early Thursday began drilling the tunnel vertically downward in what is seen as a new strategy to save 25-35 trapped people inside a tunnel of NTPC's Tapovan hydel project.

"We are doing both excavation work and drilling the tunnel in our efforts to reach the trapped people," said DIG Nilesh Anand Bharne, who is also spokesperson of the Uttarakhand police.

Ever since the excavation and digging work began inside the tunnel, the rescuers had been working on multi-pronged strategies in their desperate bid to open the tunnel which was blocked by the Sunday morning deluge.

The rescuers have also used remote sensing technologies for geographical mapping of the tunnel. "We have also used geographical mapping of the disaster-hit tunnel in the operation," said Ridhim Agarwal, DIG SDRF.

The rescue work slowed down on Tuesday due to the presence of heavy silt inside a tunnel of the disaster-hit Tapovan hydel project in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The DGP Ashok Kumar has stated that all possibilities will be explored to save the lives of the trapped people.

After days of digging and excavation works, jawans of army, ITBP, NDRF and SDRF, who are engaged in the rescue works, had managed open a sizeable portion of the tunnel. But the presence of heavy silt and sludge inside the tunnel slowed down the rescue work, top government officials admitted. Rescuers also consulted NTPC officials to understand the complicated design of the tunnel.

However, there is still no contact with the trapped people inside.

The state government has stated that nearly 200 people were missing after the disaster and 34 bodies have been recovered.

11:22 February 11

Army, ITBP, NDRF and SDRF personnel are engaged in rescue work. The soldiers are also supplying food, medicines and other essential things to the flood-affected and out of touch villages. State CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has tweeted and thanked the relief team.

10:09 February 11

Uttarakhand glacier burst LIVE: Death toll rises to 35, 204 persons missing

Joshimath (Uttarakhand): Rescuers from multiple agencies like the ITBP, NDRF and Army continued their operation on Wednesday to penetrate deeper through tonnes of silt to reach out to workers trapped inside the Tapovan tunnel as the toll in the Uttarakhand flash floods has mounted to 32 with over 170 missing.

The centre of operations, post the Sunday disaster in the border district of Chamoli, remains the large tunnel where an estimated 30-35 workers are believed to have been trapped after the Alaknanda river hurtled down in spate as a result of a possible glacier burst or avalanche in the Himalayas.

The rescuers are "hoping against hope" to find the workers of the Tapovan power project who have gone missing for over three days now.

With every minute passing by, the concern about the safety of these men is mounting.

Officials on the ground and those monitoring the rescue from Delhi told PTI that continuous accumulation of slush and silt inside the tunnel is the biggest hurdle for the rescuers.

"Heavy machines have removed more slush from the tunnel the whole night. A joint team of ITBP, NDRF, SDRF and sister agencies entered into the tunnel this morning.

"The tunnel is approachable till about 120 meters but more slush and water coming from inside the tunnel is making the way ahead difficult," Indo-Tibetan Border Police force spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said in Delhi.

Measures like drilling to take oxygen to those trapped inside the tunnel are being contemplated, project consultant A K Shrivastava said at the site in Tapovan.

The over 1,500-metre tunnel has become the focal point of rescue operations even as family members of those trapped spend hours outside with a bated breath to hear some good news about their kin.

The multi-agency group of rescuers also flew a camera-equipped drone inside the tunnel on Tuesday but due to darkness, it could not pinpoint the location of survivors or the way forward, a senior National Disaster Response Force officer said.

"We are still hopeful. The teams will continue making attempts, clearing the slush to enter deeper into the tunnel and locate the trapped," he said.

The ITBP has deployed a team of about 450 personnel apart from those from the NDRF, state disaster response force and the Army.

When contacted, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said all possible efforts will be made to save the lives of those trapped inside the tunnel.

As per the latest updates provided by the State Emergency Operation Centre here, 32 bodies have been recovered from different places in the disaster-hit areas while 174 are still missing.