Uttarakhand Glacier Burst: Families Of Missing Persons Protest At Rishiganga Power Project Site

The kin of workers who went missing from the Rishiganga hydro project site staged a demonstration on Wednesday as they accused the rescue teams of not carrying out the relief operations properly.

The family members of nearly 40 workers got into a heated argument with the authorities of the project for two hours, alleging a lack of urgency in the rescue work.

"It is four days since the tragedy occurred but all the focus is on restoring connectivity. Rescuing the missing people does not seem to be the priority," alleged a man from Punjab, whose brother Jugal worked at the Rishiganga hydel project. "Jugal's phone rings when his number is dialed," he added.

Rishiganga project manager Kamal Chauhan, who had to face the wrath of the families, said that the administration was not taking his assistance in locating those who went missing after the disaster that occurred on Sunday.

The death toll in the disaster was 32 as on Tuesday with six more bodies being recovered during the day, officials had said as multiple agencies raced against time to reach the workers trapped inside a tunnel at the power project site and 174 people remained missing.

The missing people include those working at NTPC's 480-MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project and the 13.2-MW Rishiganga Hydel Project and villagers whose homes nearby were washed away.

Inputs from PTI