About 30 workers are believed to have been trapped in a tunnel near the power plant due to the’glacial flood’ that occurred on the 7th in the Himalayan alpine region of Uttarakhand Province in northern India, and authorities are doing their best to rescue them.
According to Indian media such as NDTV on the 8th, Indian military and police are working on a second day in a tunnel near the Tapoban-Vishnugard hydroelectric power plant in Chammoli district, Uttarakhand state.
The military police rescued 12 workers from the 900m-long tunnel 2 the day before, and are currently working to save 30 workers who appear to be trapped in tunnel 1.
Vivek Panday, the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) public official said, “It was known that 16 people were trapped in Tunnel 2 at first, but as a result of the rescue operation, 12 people were rescued.”
Public Affairs Officer Pandai added, “Now we are focusing on the search for Tunnel 1, which appears to have trapped around 30 people.”
However, some point out that because the currents of this flood were so strong, their chances of survival are not great.
In addition, hundreds of ground personnel, including military police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and air force aircraft and navy divers are also extensively searching other areas.
In the morning of the previous day, a flood triggered by a glacial collapse occurred in the area near Mount Nandadebi (7,816m above sea level) in Uttarakhand Province.
Powerful rapids like a tsunami hit two sites, including the Rishiganga hydroelectric power plant (13.2MW scale) and the Tapoban-Vishnugard hydroelectric power plant (520MW scale), and swept through five bridges, roads, and even parts of nearby villages.
In particular, it is known that the facilities and dams of the Lishiganga hydroelectric power plant were completely broken and washed away.
Officials from the authorities said that 170 workers at the two power plants were missing in the process, NDTV and others reported.
The Uttarakhand state government said through a tweet on the day that “14 bodies were found in the field,” and “a total of 15 people were rescued.”
However, some argued that the number of missing persons was more than 125, which is less than reported by NDTV.
To prevent further damage, authorities emptied the water from two downstream dams and evacuated nearby villagers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “We are constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation that has occurred in Uttarakhand Province.”
Uttarakhand Province, where the foothills of the western Himalayas are located, is considered an area vulnerable to floods and landslides.
In June 2013, a record heavy rain poured out, causing landslides and floods called the’Himalayan tsunami’, killing some 6,000 people.
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