Twelve People out of those who were trapped in the Uttarakhand’s Tapowan tunnel have been rescued so far. The rescue teams are battling with the debris- mud choked a tunnel since the disaster happened which is about a week now.
Reportedly Five bodies were recovered from the intake adit tunnel of the state-run NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project, These were the first bodies which are rescued since a week of the disaster happened. They were recovered from a site where muck-clearing and drilling operations were underway.
Three were recovered from Raini, where a 13.2 MW hydel project along the Rishiganga was destroyed in the calamity.
After the recoveries the death toll stands at 46, whereas 158 people are still missing.
The intensity of searching and rescue operations had been increased following two recoveries, said the Chamoli District Magistrate Swati Bhadoria.
The rescue officials successfully drilled 12 metre long hole of 75 mm diameter in the intake adit tunnel by Saturday in order to reach out to 30 people trapped in the tunnel.
Giving an update on the drilling operation Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Tapovan, General Manager, R P Ahirwal said, “There is no water or slush pressure observed in the silt-flushing tunnel. However, the camera could not be inserted due to the presence of slush. Drilling of a larger diameter hole has been planned now. Meanwhile mucking from the intake adit tunnel is in progress. The diameter of bore hole shall be 250-300 mm”.
The NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project has suffered heavy damages in the flash flood that followed a glacier break in the Tapovan-Reni area last week. The glacier burst has led to heavy damages and massive flooding in the rivers of Alaknanda and Dhauliganga, damaged nearby roads and bridges and also power project of Rishiganga.
