U’khand glacier burst: Death toll rises to 29, missing 197

Story by ATV | Posted by [email protected] | Date 09-02-2021

Rescue teams at work in Chamoli

Chamoli:The death toll in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident has reached 29 after three more bodies were recovered from the debris, said the Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Swati S Bhadoria. At least 197 people are still missing.

"Three more bodies recovered and the death toll in the glacier disaster has mounted to 29," she said. She informed that the ration is being transported and emergency cases are being attended to with the help of helicopters.

Bhadoria said, "Construction of the bridge is underway while the zip line has already been fixed. SDRF personnel used the same to reach areas that were cut off. The ration is being transported and emergency cases are being attended to with the help of helicopters".

The rescue operation is underway at Tapovan tunnel in Joshimath, Chamoli where 35 people are trapped. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is using choppers for thermal imaging to trace people in the valley.

Earlier today, a joint team of ITBP, Army, NDRF, and SDRF entered the Tapovan tunnel to check the water level inside the tunnel ahead of the point where the debris has been cleared.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the rescue team has managed to reach the Malari valley area in the Dhauli Ganga valley through a rope to deliver ration packages.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday donated Rs 11 crores to the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Fund.

ISRO says glacier didn’t burst, mountain fell

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director told him that the Chamoli disaster was caused by sliding of a part of a mountain after receiving snowfall two-three days ago.

"ISRO director, on the basis of a report by the organisation, told me this site is not an avalanche-prone area and the images from two-three days ago showed that there was no glacier at all on the mountain. After receiving some snowfall a couple of days ago, a part of the mountain slid and caused lakhs of metric tonnes of snow to fall down at once causing the disaster," he added.

The Chief Minister presided over a meeting over Chamoli disaster on Monday evening which was attended by officers of Army and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), state officials, and ISRO scientists.

Earlier in the day, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Dr LK Sinha had said that a hanging glacier in Uttarakhand's Chamoli may have broken away from the main glacier which caused the damage.