Chamoli flood: 13 Uttarakhand villages cut off as lone bridge near Rishi Ganga project washes away

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also visited the 13 border villages on Tuesday and met the locals.

As many as 13 villages in Uttarakhand were cut off after the lone bridge connecting them to the rest of the state was washed away in the flash floods near the Rishi Ganga project in the Chamoli district on Sunday.

Villagers watch the rescue operations carried at Tapovan barrage, following the Sunday's glacier burst in Joshimath causing a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, Wednesday. (PTI Photo )

The rescue agencies have set up a zip line to connect with them and provide relief material to the villages that inhabit nearly 2,500 people, Uttarakhand Police Director General Ashok Kumar said on Tuesday. The relief material is also being sent via choppers to the affected areas, he added.

As the only Border Roads Organisation (BRO) bridge connecting the villages to the outside world washed away following flood due to the glacial burst in Chamoli, Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre official Piyoosh Rautela on on Wednesday told news agency ANI that they will soon set up a temporary bridge.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also visited the 13 border villages on Tuesday and met the locals. He asked them about the issues they were facing and assured them of all possible assistance.

Following the visit, Rawat said, "Apart from this the relief material is also being provided to the affected people of the villages cut off after the bridge collapsed. Ration packets are being air-dropped as well as provided by the rescue workers on foot. I would urge all the people to keep calm as the government has all the required resources to tackle the situation."

The chief minister added that the main focus is on searching the missing and rescuing those trapped inside the tunnel. “The rescue workers are trying to get inside the tunnel with a rope after drilling it. We hope that they will succeed in that," he said on Tuesday.

Rescue operations are underway at the Tapovan tunnel, where nearly 30 people are believed to be trapped. The rescue teams have so far recovered 32 bodies and over 200 people are reportedly missing.