Chamoli tragedy: Bodies found up to 150 kms downstream of hydel project

Battling muddy water and wading in knee-deep muck, SDRF teams search for bodies stuck in boulders and tree roots downstream.

Uttarakhand's state disaster response force (SDRF) was the first to reach the Chamoli disaster spot, along with the local police, to initiate the rescue operation. Now, with about 185 people missing, the teams are posed with the challenge of wading in knee-deep silt and muck while trying to spot the bodies in muddy waters.

SDRF men looking for bodies in river after Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand. (HT Photo)

The Uttarakhand SDRF, which is considered as one of the country's best disaster response forces, has about 100 of its personnel pressed into the ongoing rescue operation in Chamoli district. It is also the lone agency involved in searching the bodies of the people killed in the washing away of the two hydel power projects in Sunday's flash floods.

There are five to six SDRF teams involved in scanning the river on boats and on foot to find the bodies. They have been working tirelessly in the operation but claim that the major challenges they are facing including working in muddy water and knee-deep silt and mud on the riverside.

Inspector Anirudh Bhandari, who is leading a team of about 15 SDRF personnel to find the bodies of the victims, said, "The major challenge is the thick mud and round boulders near the riverside. It is extremely difficult to walk in it while searching for bodies."

Bhandari and his team have so far scanned an area of 50-60 kilometres on foot in search of bodies during which they have recovered 8 bodies so far.

"We have to look for bodies with binoculars in the muddy waters. Most of the bodies we have recovered were stuck under heavy boulders or roots of big trees on the riverside. Some of them were in a mutilated condition," said Bhandari.

He said, "After finding the bodies, the next challenge was to get them out from all the muck and muck and then taking them one or two kilometres up on foot to the road. Some of the bodies are beyond recognition."

Bhandari added that they have found some bodies in the river about 100 kilometres away from the NTPC dam site where around 120 workers are missing.

"We are leaving our base at 7 in the morning and work till 7-8 pm with hardly any break. Last two days we worked without any food for 12 hours straight. That is how dire the situation is," he added.

Apart from searching the bodies on foot, the SDRF teams are also scanning the river in boats.

Inspector Manjri Negi, who is leading one such SDRF teams to search the bodies in motorboats, said, "The biggest difficulty is the muddy river water."

"It is very difficult to look through the muddy water for bodies as they are stuck. Spotting them is difficult, getting them out on foot is tedious as they are stuck mainly on the riverside where the boats cannot reach," said Negi.

She said that they have found some bodies as far as about 150 kilometres away from the NTPC dam site.

"Yesterday, we found one body near Dhari Devi temple which is about 150 kilometres from NTPC site in Tapovan. We don't how far bodies could be found in the river. However, we are putting all our efforts in the search operation," said Negi.