Chamoli flood: Rescue ops on via 2nd tunnel at Tapovan, over 30 feared trapped

Uttarakhand glacial burst: Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said it's a very difficult situation, but ITBP successfully rescued people from first tunnel and now they're working on second tunnel which is approximately 3km long.

The Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel carried out the clearing of the mouth of a second tunnel with the help of Engineer Task Forces through Sunday night in order to carry out rescue operations in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district where glacial burst led to flash floods. “Work continued throughout the night with earthmovers by installing generators and searchlights. Field Hospital providing medical aid at the incident site,” the army said on Monday.

Rescue operations are underway at Tapovan

The rescue ops are now being conducted through the bigger tunnel in the Tapovan area which is 150m to 180m long. “There is a large amount of debris inside the tunnel. Approximately 80 metre inside the tunnel is cleared and accessible. It appears that approximately 100 Mtrs debris inside the tunnel is yet to be cleared,” the Indo-Tibetan Border Police said. Nearly 30 workers are believed to be trapped in this area.

The rescue ops in the other tunnel have concluded. Twelve workers were rescued from this tunnel after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Chamoli, according to the ITBP.

Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said it's a very difficult situation, but ITBP successfully rescued people from first tunnel and now they're working on second tunnel which is approximately 3km long. “NDRF and the military are also on it. By afternoon we can expect some positive results,” he said.

He added that the Centre has been sending constant directions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeping track. Home Minister Amit Shah is also reviewing the situation every half an hour, Pokhriyal said.

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also posted an update on the situation saying, “Our brave-hearts worked throughout the night and have reached the mouth of tunnel...rescue operations are ongoing in full swing & we are hoping to save more lives. Unfortunately, rescue teams have also recovered 11 dead bodies so far. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone.”. He told news agency ANI that around 203 people are missing.

The ITBP, Indian Army, the SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) forces are engaged in the retrieval in the affected areas.