Tapovan tunnel search operations: Search operations at Uttarakhand's Tapovan tunnel are on to rescue over 30 workers trapped at a power project site. According to the SDRF, around 35 more people are stuck in this tunnel and 5 people have come forward and reported their presence to the administration. As many as 26 bodies have been recovered while 197 people are still missing so far, according to the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).
#WATCH: Rescue operations underway at the tunnel in Chamoli, Uttarakhand where around 35 people are feared to be trapped.
— ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2021
(Video Source: Indian Army) pic.twitter.com/Mwj31NDoUR
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel of the eighth Battalion carried nearly 100 bags of ration and utility items from the temporary helipad at Lata village base and control station to Jugaju and Juwagwar villages which got cut-off from connectivity due to floods in the Dhauli Ganga river.
Two helipad activation teams of Indian Air Force's Air Traffic Control and Meteorological personnel have reached Joshimath and Gaucher for coordinating high availability disaster recovery (HADR) operations. Indian Air Force's official statement read, "Two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) are forward staged at Gauchar (Uttarakhand), while Mi-17s, Chinook, and ALH are operating from Dehradun."
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat took an aerial survey of the areas affected by the glacier burst and the consequent deluge. Rawat has also directed the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to release funds worth Rs 20 crore for rescue and relief operations.
The sudden flood in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga, and Alaknanda rivers-all intricately linked tributaries of Ganga after the glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Joshimath in the Chamoli district triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas.