RUDRAPRAYAG, India – Rescuers in northern India were working on Monday to rescue more than three dozen power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke and sent a wall of water and debris down the mountain. in a disaster that left 18 people dead and 165 missing.
More than 2,000 soldiers, paramilitary groups and police participate in search and rescue operations in the state of Uttarakhand, after Sunday’s flood, which destroyed one dam, damaged another and took houses downstream.
Officials said the focus was on saving 37 workers trapped inside a tunnel at one of the affected hydroelectric plants. Excavators were brought in to help with efforts to reach workers, who have been out of contact since the flood.
Rescuers prepare to search for bodies downstream from the Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand state, India, Monday, February 8, 2021. More than 2,000 members of the army, paramilitary groups and police participated in the search – and -operations rescue after part of a Himalayan glacier broke on Sunday and sent a wall of water and debris down the mountain. (AP Photo / Rishabh R. Jain)
“The tunnel is full of debris from the river. We are using machines to clear the way,” said H. Gurung, a senior paramilitary police officer on the Indo-Tibetan border.
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Authorities fear that many more are dead and are looking for bodies downstream using boats. They also walked along the banks of the river and used binoculars to search for bodies that may have been taken downstream.
This photograph provided by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) shows a man reacting after he was taken off the ground by ITBP personnel during rescue operations after part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke in the Tapovan area in northern Uttarakhand state , India, Sunday, February 7, 2021. (Indo-Tibetan border police via AP)
The flood was caused when part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke on Sunday morning, releasing water trapped behind it. Experts said the disaster could be related to global warming and a team of scientists was brought to the scene on Monday to investigate what exactly happened.
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The floodwater descended the mountain and entered other water courses, forcing the evacuation of many villages along the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers. The video showed the muddy, gray-concrete flood falling into a valley and entering a dam, breaking it into pieces with little resistance before heading downstream. He transformed the field into what appeared to be a gray lunar landscape.
Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel carry out rescue work on one of the hydroelectric power projects in the village of Reni in the Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttrakhund, Monday, February 8, 2021. Rescue efforts they continued on Monday to save 37 people after part of a glacier burst, releasing a torrent of water and debris that hit two hydroelectric plants on Sunday. (Photo AP)
A hydroelectric plant in Alaknanda was destroyed and a plant under construction in Dhauliganga was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Flowing from the Himalayan mountains, the two rivers meet before merging with the Ganges.
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The arrested workers were at the Dhauliganga factory, where on Sunday 12 workers were rescued from a separate tunnel.
This photograph provided by the National Disaster Response Force shows NDRF personnel preparing to rescue workers on one of the hydroelectric projects in the village of Reni in the Chamoli district, Uttrakhund Indian state, Monday, February 8, 2021. Efforts rescue efforts continued on Monday to save 37 people after part of a glacier burst, releasing a torrent of water and debris that hit two hydroelectric plants on Sunday. (National Disaster Response Force via AP)
A senior government official told the Associated Press that they do not know the total number of people who were working on the Dhauliganga project. “The number of missing persons may increase or decrease,” said SA Murugesan.
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Pandey said on Monday that 165 workers in the two factories, not including the prisoners in the tunnel, are missing and at least 18 bodies have been recovered.
Rescuers arrive to search for bodies downstream from the Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand State, India, Monday, February 8, 2021. More than 2,000 members of the army, paramilitary groups and police participated in the search – and rescue after part of a Himalayan glacier broke on Sunday and sent a wall of water and debris down the mountain. (AP Photo / Rishabh R. Jain)
Those rescued on Sunday were taken to a hospital, where they were recovering.
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One of the rescued workers, Rakesh Bhatt, told the Associated Press that they were working in the tunnel when the water ran.
Rescuers search for bodies downstream from the Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand State, India, Monday, February 8, 2021. More than 2,000 military, paramilitary and police groups participated in the search and rescue operations after they left a glacier of the Himalayas broke on Sunday and sent a wall of water and debris down the mountain. (AP Photo / Rishabh R. Jain)
“We thought it could be rain and that the water would decrease. But when we saw mud and debris entering with great speed, we realized that something big had happened, ”he said.
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Bhatt said one of the workers managed to contact the authorities using his cell phone.
Rescuers set out on a boat to search for bodies downstream from the Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand State, India, Monday, February 8, 2021. More than 2,000 soldiers, paramilitary groups and police participated in Search and Rescue Operations after part of a Himalayan glacier broke on Sunday and sent a wall of water and debris down the mountain. (AP Photo / Rishabh R. Jain)
“We waited for almost six hours – praying to God and playing with each other to keep us excited. I was the first to be rescued and it was a great relief, ”he said.
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The Himalayan area, where the Sunday flood occurred, has a chain of hydroelectric projects on several rivers and their tributaries. Authorities said they were able to save other power units downstream due to the timely action taken to release water by opening gates.
People inspect the site near the damaged Dhauliganga hydroelectric project in the Reni village in the Chamoli district after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier burst in the Tapovan area in Uttarakhand state on Sunday, February 7, 2021. (Photo AP)
Floods have also damaged homes, but details of the number and whether any residents were injured, missing or killed have yet to be clarified. Authorities said they were trying to track down whether anyone was missing in the villages along the two rivers.
Government officials have launched packages of food and medicine for at least two villages affected by the flood.
Many people in neighboring villages work at the Dhauliganga factory, said Murugesan, but since it was Sunday, fewer people were working than on a weekday,
“The only consolation for us is that the number of victims in neighboring villages is much lower,” he said.
Some have already begun to point to climate change as a contributing factor due to the well-known melting and breaking of the world’s glaciers, although other factors such as erosion, earthquakes, increased water pressure and volcanic eruptions have also caused the glaciers to collapse.
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Anjal Prakash, director of research and adjunct professor at the Indian School of Business who contributed to UN-sponsored research on global warming, said that while data on the cause of the disaster was not yet available, “this looks a lot like a change climatic event as glaciers are melting due to global warming. “