Uttarakhand glacier burst: Over 8 bodies recovered, 150 feared missing

The rescue team has recovered over 8-10 bodies at NTPC site in Tapovan area of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, where a part of a glacier broke off at Joshimath near Rishi Ganga power project leading to massive flood in Dhauli Ganga river, said ITBP DG Surjeet Singh Deswal.

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 secy said that a red alert has been sounded in the region. 

Glacier Break in Uttarakhand : Heavy casualties reported#DhauligangaRiver #Uttarakhand #Haridwar #Rhishikesh #Avalanche pic.twitter.com/r5sRKINTDx

— DNA (@dna) February 7, 2021

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.

Medical teams have been rushed to the affected site. 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. #Uttarakhand

— Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021

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

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 porject. Homes along the way were swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas.

Watch the video here-