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3 bodies found in Tapovan tunnel, 163 missing amid good news on glacial lake
The rescue team hit slush after drilling to reach the underground tunnel. The slush is being pumped out to gain access to continue the search for about remaining 30 workers.
Three bodies buried in slush were recovered from 1.7 km long main tunnel in National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) hydro power project in Tapovan on Sunday, a week after operations began to rescue around 35 workers trapped inside the tunnel, blocked by debris and slush following the flash floods triggered by the collapse of a glacier in the upper reaches of Himalayas in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. The total death toll in the disaster has now reached 41 with about 163 still missing.
"Their bodies were recovered by the team of rescue workers from SDRF and NDRF while clearing the slush from the tunnel, where about 35 workers were originally feared to be trapped," said state director general of police, Ashok Kumar.
The rescue workers recovered another body on Sunday noon from the Reni village near Rishi Ganga hydel power project from the muck.
Earlier on Saturday, the rescue workers finished drilling vertically in the main tunnel to reach a small underground tunnel beneath it at a depth of 12.7 metres. They however, hit slush after drilling the required depth. The slush is being pumped out to gain access to the tunnel for the search of about 30 remaining workers, feared trapped.
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Tragedy struck last Sunday morning, when a glacier breach sent a torrent of water and sludge hurtling down a valley into the Rishiganga river--it becomes Alaknanda in Chamoli city. The subsequent flooding that hit villages on the way, also damaged two power plants--the Tapovan project and the Rishiganga hydel project-- and prompted a section of experts to link the event to climate change.
It was feared that a glacial lake, formed by the debris following the glacier burst blocking a Himalayan stream about 8-kms above the Reni village, may trigger fresh flash floods, however, a eight-member SDRF team, which trekked for about 14 hours on foot to reach the 350 metre-wide lake said it currently posed no threat since enough water was continuously draining out in the form of a stream.
