Uttarakhand flash flood: Toll rises to 31 after 5 bodies recovered, says report

A joint team of ITBP, army, NDRF and SDRF entered the Tapovan tunnel to check the water level inside it ahead of the point where the debris has been cleared.

Rescuers have recovered five more bodies from the debris of an accident site after Sunday's glacier disaster in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand pushing the death toll in the disaster to 31, news agency PTI reported on Tuesday citing the State Emergency Operation Centre. According to PTI, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had said earlier that its personnel recovered two bodies from debris in Raini village on Tuesday morning. The State Emergency Operation Centre said 175 people are still missing after the Sunday disaster, which was likely caused by a glacier burst, PTI said.

On Tuesday, the rescue operations began with a Mi-17 helicopter leaving Dehradun for Joshimath with NDRF personnel on board in the morning. (ANI)

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Union home minister Amit Shah said 450 soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), eight teams of the Indian Army, one from the Indian Navy and five helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are engaged in search and rescue operation. "All concerned agencies of the Centre and state are monitoring the situation," Shah said in the Rajya Sabha.

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited Lata in Chamoli district on Tuesday to meet the residents of the avalanche-hit villages. Rawat, who reached Tapovan on Monday evening to review rescue efforts, undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas on Tuesday and also met 12 workers who were rescued from the tunnel on Sunday evening. Rawat said the priority is to get to those trapped inside the tunnel and save as many lives as possible.

"Rescue team has managed to reach the Malari Valley area through rope and now necessary packages, ration can be sent easily. Earlier, only a limited stock could be supplied via helicopter but there will not be any problem now," he said earlier.

Around half a dozen people were injured in the Sunday avalanche. Thirteen border villages of Joshimath block, Raini Palli, Pang, Lata, Suraithota, Suki, Bhalgaon, Tolma, Fagrasu, Long Segdi, Gahar, Bhangyul, Juwagwad and Jugju, were cut off following the avalanche in Rishi Ganga river on Sunday, according to PTI.

Officials have said that nearly 100 kits of ration have been supplied to the affected villages by helicopters to ensure they face no dearth of essentials.

The rescue operations began with a Mi-17 helicopter leaving Dehradun for Joshimath with NDRF personnel on board in the morning. The IAF said that an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) carrying scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) is undertaking a recce of the Tapovan area. A joint team of ITBP, army, NDRF and SDRF entered the Tapovan tunnel to check the water level inside it ahead of the point where the debris has been cleared. As per the State Emergency Operations Centre in Dehradun, 16 firemen are deployed at the site along with 26 personnel of police.

(With agency inputs)