Uttarakhand flash flood: Death toll increases to 61

District magistrate Swati Bhadauria said 34 of the bodies have been identified and 14 [of the bodies] have been recovered from the 1.7km-long tunnel at the NTPC’s power project in Tapovan

Published on: Feb 19, 2021, 11:26:47 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Rescuers have so far recovered 61 bodies from Uttarakhand’s flash flood-hit Chamoli district even as 143 people remain missing in the aftermath of the worst natural disaster in the state in years, officials said on Friday.

Search and rescue operations for the missing underway in Chamoli. (ANI)

District magistrate Swati Bhadauria said 34 of the bodies have been identified. “...Fourteen [of the bodies] have been recovered from the 1.7km-long tunnel at the NTPC’s power project in Tapovan which is in the focus of the rescue operation,” said Bhadauria. “The rescuers have cleared the muck up to about 146 metres inside the tunnel but are facing difficulty due to the outflow of heavy sludge.”

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The rescuers were also scanning the Alaknanda river downstream of the disaster site to search for more bodies.

Praveen Alok, a spokesperson for the State Disaster Relief Force, said about 70 of their personnel are searching for bodies in the river in Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, and Pauri Garhwal. “After recovering the bodies, their DNA samples are being collected....to ascertain their identities...”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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