Chamoli : 72 hours of Rescue operation, 197 people still missing, Efforts continue to save them

Army, NDRF, ITBP, SDRF and now a squad of Marine commandos have also reached to rescue those trapped in the tunnel of the damaged Tapovan project of NTPC. So far, 32 people have died, while 197 people are missing.

After the Chamoli accident, more than 600 Army, ITBP, NDRF and SDRF personnel are engaged in rescue work. These jawans are transporting food, medicines and other essential things to the flood affected and out of touch villages. State CM Trivendra Singh Rawat tweeted and thanked the ITBP jawans.

Indian Navy personnel are also engaged in rescue work. 25-35 people are stranded in the 2.5 km long tunnel of Tapovan-Vishnugarh project of NTPC. Rescue work is going on to get these people out of the tunnel. The water level in the tunnel is constantly increasing. Authorities hope that people will be pulled out of the safe tunnel. However, the people trapped in the tunnel could not be contacted.

So far, bodies of 32 people have been recovered and 197 people are still missing. Broken glacier has caused significant damage to property and lives. NTPC’s 480MW Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydro Power Project and 13.2 MW Rishiganga Project in Chamoli have also suffered heavy losses. Many houses were also washed away in the flood due to the breaking of the glacier.

Some National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) employees trapped inside the underground tunnel in Tapovan said, ‘When all hopes were over, we sang Garhwali and Nepali songs, recited shayari to each other and maintained our self-confidence.We tried everything.