The government has also appealed to the area people not to venture near the Ganga river.     --Photo IANS

150 missing after U’khand flash flood

NEW DELHI (The Statesman) -- At least seven persons were killed and over one hundred and fifty workers of two power projects are missing after a glacier burst, causing an avalanche and creating flooding in river Rishiganga in Chamoli district on Sunday.
The flooding caused massive damage to the under-construction Rishiganga and Tapovan hydro projects. The toll could go higher, with the Uttarakhand chief minister saying that 30 persons were working at the Rishiganga power project site and 176 others at the Tapovan project site.
A high alert was sounded in villages and towns located on the bank of the Ganga river in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Many workers engaged in the power projects were trapped in tunnels. Sixteen trapped workers were rescued from a tunnel at Tapovan by late evening. The process of evacuating workers from another tunnel was underway. ITBP teams conducted the rescue operation in the tunnel to evacuate the trapped labourers.

(Latest Update February 9, 2021)