Uttarakhand Flash Flood: Overnight Rescue Ops Centre on a 1.9-km Tunnel with 39, Families Losing Hope

Uttarakhand: It has been more than 24 hours since Avalanche devastated Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. Rescue operations continued well into the night on Mondays as personnel of the ITBP, NDRF and Army strived to locate missing laborers.

The tunnel trapped 39 people after the debris blocked the passage. Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar stated clearance of the tunnel by noon. 

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat conducted an aerial survey to analyze the areas affected by the glacier burst. He also visited the ITBP hospital in Joshimath, Chamoli where the injured are admitted.

Mr. Rawat said – “12 people who were rescued from the tunnel on February 7 are admitted here. They’ve complained of body ache as they were hanging on an iron bar for 3-4 hours fearing water and debris. Doctors said they’ll recover soon.”

Multiple agencies are posted to rescue the trapped persons in the tunnel in Chamoli’s Topovan.

Aparna Kumar, ITBP Dehradun’s Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sector HQ says, “The operation was carried out the entire night and is under progress. A lot of debris has been removed. We have not been able to establish any contact till now”.

Overnight relief operations by ITBP were carried out in Chamoli’s villages like Lata, Malaria, Jugaju, and Juwagwar on Monday.

A temporary helipad is also built by the civil administration in Lata. 

87 dry ration packets were also supplied by troops of the 8th battalion of ITBP across Jugaju and Juwagwar villages.