Nearly 30 people were confirmed dead and nearly 200 missing on Monday after a large piece of a Himalayan glacier in northern India’s Uttarakhand state broke and fell into a river, causing an avalanche and a huge deluge that destroyed dams and hydroelectric plants and several bridges and roads.
Most of the disappeared are believed to have been washed away by the waters of two hydroelectric plants hit along the Dhauli Ganga River. About 150 people who were working at a large plant under construction and another 21 from the Rishiganga facility further upstream were missing.
The Rishaganga plant was operating when it was completely destroyed by the wall of water released by the partial collapse of the Nanda Devi glacier on Sunday.
There was a frantic rescue operation underway to reach more than 30 people trapped in a 2.4-kilometer-long tunnel in one of the facilities, where mud and debris were hindering the operation.
“Some people inside the tunnel are probably alive or half alive, we are trying to rescue them,” Uttarakhand State Police Director-General Ashok Kumar told CBS News.
Kumar confirmed to CBS News that the bodies of 26 people were recovered. He said rescue operations are likely to continue until at least Tuesday morning.
Hundreds of paramilitary soldiers and police were dispatched to assist with rescue operations. The video of the scene showed heavy construction equipment moving in the mud and military helicopters circling above the teams on the ground. At least 25 people were rescued by Monday afternoon, local time, including a man seen being pulled out of a mud-covered tunnel.
Authorities evacuated thousands of people from several villages near another affected river, Alaknanda, but authorities said on Monday that the flood threat was over. Food was being launched by air into areas that were isolated by roads due to the floods that destroyed bridges and roads.
“India is with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for the safety of all,” wrote Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter. He said he was “constantly monitoring the situation”.
Climate change in a delicate region
The state of Uttarakhand lies along the western Himalayan mountains and has seen several floods and landslides in the past. More than 6,000 people were killed, disappeared or presumably killed in 2013, when heavy monsoon rains caused massive flooding.
Environmentalists have long raised concerns about large dams being built on the state’s rivers and campaign against the development of its floodplains.
Experts were quick to say that the partial collapse of the glacier on Sunday could be related to climate change.
“This looks a lot like a climate change event, as glaciers are melting due to global warming,” said Dr. Anjal Prakash, chief researcher at the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He told CBS News that the impact of global warming on glaciers has been well documented and that a recent report showed that temperatures are rising in the Himalayan region.
“There is no doubt that global warming has resulted in the warming of the region,” said Dr. Farooq Azam, professor of glaciology and hydrology. “Erratic weather patterns caused by climate change, such as increased snowfall and rain [and] warmer winters led to the melting point of a lot of snow. “