Glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli destroys many houses, watch video

A glacier broke off at Joshimath in the Chamoli district on Sunday causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas and nearby Rishiganga power project. Homes along the way were swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent.

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Om Prakash earlier told ANI that casualties are feared to be between 100 to 150. He added that teams of ITBP, SDRF and NDRF are on the spot and carrying out the rescue and evacuation work. The chief secretary said that a red alert has been sounded in the region.

"There was an under constructed tunnel near Tapovan dam in Uttarakhand where around 20 workers are stranded. ITBP team deployed at site is undertaking rescue operation. We are in touch with the management team of NTPC to gather information on missing people," news agency ANI quoted SS Deswal, DG, ITBP as saying.

"It is suspected that around 100 workers were at the site. Of which, 9-10 dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Search operation is underway. 250 ITBP personnel are present at site, Indian Army team to reach soon," the DG added.

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat said that 600 personnel from the Indian Army and ITBP are on standby for dealing with any emerging situation and all the rescue teams are doing their best to save lives of missing workers at NTPC (140 nos) and RishiGanga site (17 nos).  

CM Rawat said that medical teams have been rushed to the affected site and a 30-bed hospital has been kept ready at Joshimath for dealing with this emergency.

"Hospitals in Srinagar, Rishikesh, Jollygrant and Dehradun are on standby. We are doing our best to deal with this disaster," CM said.

IMPORTANT: Anyone requiring help can contact following emergency numbers - 1070, 1905 and 9557444486.

A video of the incident shows houses being swept away as the water comes flooding the area.

Watch: Massive Glacier Break hits Uttarakhand, many dead#Uttarakhand #GlacierBreak #Haridwar #Avalanche #DhauligangaRiver pic.twitter.com/b1wonZlNQh

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Meanwhile, Chamoli district magistrate has also instructed officials to evacuate people living in villages on the bank of the Dhauliganga River. A warning has been issued for people to avoid going to the banks of the Ganga River.