RISHIKESH, India – Indian authorities launched a search operation on Sunday after part of a Himalayan glacier broke, sending a huge flood of water and debris that hit two dams and damaged several houses. At least nine people have died and 140 are missing.
The flood was caused when part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke in the Tapovan area of Uttarakhand state on Sunday morning. A video shared by officials and taken from the side of a steep slope shows a wall of water rising into one of the dams and breaking it into pieces with little resistance before continuing to roar downstream.
The Rishiganga hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda river was destroyed, while the Dhauliganga hydroelectric plant on the Dhauliganga river was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the paramilitary police on the Indo-Tibetan border. Flowing from the Himalayan mountains, the two rivers meet before merging with the Ganges.
Pandey said that all 12 workers trapped inside a tunnel in the Dhauliganga project were rescued and provided first aid. He previously said that 16 people were trapped there.
Another 140 workers at the two factories were missing, Pandey said.
Surjeet Singh, a police officer, said nine bodies have so far been recovered amid intense rescue operations.
Pandey said soldiers specializing in mountaineering and rescue operations were called in.
“The situation is under control and there is no need to panic,” he said.
Authorities said that when the glacier broke, the water trapped behind it, as well as mud and other debris, descended the mountain and hit other bodies of water. Many villages were evacuated while authorities issued a warning urging people living on the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers to move to safer places immediately.
There were houses that were damaged in the flood, said Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesman, although he has no details on the number and whether any residents were injured, missing or killed.
Authorities emptied two dams downstream to prevent floodwaters from reaching the cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, where popular tourist spots on the banks of the Ganges were closed and all navigation activities were interrupted.
“We heard that a glacier had broken and people feared that the water level would rise,” said Prince Chawla, a boat owner in Rishikesh. “But so far, the water level has not risen much here.”
Uttarakhand police chief Ashok Kumar said the authorities immediately alerted residents living in the area and evacuated them to safer places.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet said he was “constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation”. He added: “India is with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for the safety of everyone there.”
In 2013, thousands of people were killed in Uttarakhand after heavy rains caused landslides and floods, taking thousands of homes and roads and cutting communication links in many parts of the state.