13 more bodies found, 6 in Tapovan tunnel

Tribune News Service

Joshimath, February 14

Thirteen bodies were recovered on Sunday from the flashflood-ravaged hydel project sites at Tapovan and Raini in Chamoli district, taking the toll in the calamity to 51, even as search and rescue operations were intensified.

Officials said rescuers managed to reach 140 metres inside the 180-metre-long main tunnel and retrieved six bodies from there. The remaining seven bodies were found along the Rishi Ganga near Raini village.

“These are the first bodies to be recovered from the tunnel where muck-clearing and drilling operations have been underway for the past seven days,” an official said, adding that of the 51 bodies found so far, 24 had been identified.

Rescue teams are still battling against odds to reach out to another around 25-30 people still believed to be trapped inside the tunnel.

A senior official said: “We are working on a three-pronged strategy. We are trying to insert a camera inside the tunnel, besides clearing silt from the basin of the NTPC barrage and restoring the flow of the Dhauliganga to the right to carry on rescue operation.”

“We are expecting more bodies as hopes are receding for survival,” admitted a top official. Officials said over 150 people still remained missing after the February 7 devastation, possibly triggered by an avalanche in the upper reaches of the Alaknanda river system. Chamoli DM Swati S Bhadauria said about 445 people stranded after the flashflood had so far been sent to their villages using helicopters.