7 killed after ‘glacial burst’ in Uttarakhand Over 125 missing as hydel projects under construction on Rishiganga, Dhauliganga rivers are swept away SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT del project had an installed NEW DELHI capacity of 13.2 megawatts Seven persons were killed (MW), the 520 MW NTPC Ta- and over 125 reported mis- povan-Vishnugad project on sing after a “glacial burst” on the Dhauliganga was much Nanda Devi triggered an ava- larger. Both sites have been lanche and caused flash virtually washed away, an floods in Rishiganga and eyewitness told this new- Dhauliganga rivers in Cha- spaper. moli district of Uttarakhand Earlier in the day, Mr. Ra- on Sunday. wat said people along river- The number of missing banks were being evacuated. persons could rise as details Dams in Shrinagar and Rishi- were still being ascertained, kesh were emptied out, Mr. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Rawat said as the raging wa- T.S. Rawat said at a press ters made their way down- conference in Dehradun in stream. By late afternoon, the evening. Narrow escape: A worker being rescued from a tunnel at the the flow of the Alaknanda, of Videos of gushing waters Tapovan hydel project, which was washed away after the which the Dhauliganga is a and rising dust went viral on glacial burst in Uttarakhand on Sunday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT tributary, had stabilised. social media as flood warn- Apart from the local pol- ings were issued in down- about the cause behind the povan tunnel of the NTPC ice and the Indo-Tibetan Bor- stream Uttar Pradesh for disaster,” the Chief Minister had to be halted due to a rise der Police (ITBP), four co- what was described as a “gla- told reporters. in water level. lumns of the Army were also cial burst” by the Centre’s At least 15 persons had “We were able to dig 150 deployed for rescue opera- National Crisis Management been rescued till Sunday m of the tunnel but after a tions as some 35 people are Committee (NCMC), headed evening, Uttarakhand Direc- rise in water level we had to believed to be still trapped by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv tor-General of Police Ashok halt the work. Most missing inside the Tapovan project Gauba. Kumar said in a tweet. “Res- persons were working at the tunnel. cue operations are going on,” two projects; they came There is no danger of Cause under study he stated. from across India. We expect downstream flooding and Mr. Rawat, on his part, was Mr. Kumar said seven bo- to get a clear picture on their the rise in water level has more circumspect about the dies had been recovered so identities by Monday morn- been contained, as per infor- cause of the flooding in the far and around 100 people ing,” Mr. Kumar told The mation given by the Central eco-sensitive Himalayan re- were still missing. Hindu. He added that a time- Water Commission, the gion, where environmental- The missing persons in- ly warning to residents living NCMC statement said. ists have warned against the clude two policemen and downstream to evacuate had construction of dams for de- five villagers, he said. He said saved many lives. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10 cades. “Experts will tell us work on the 900 m-long Ta- While the Rishiganga hy- MORE REPORTS A PAGE 11 7 killed after ‘glacial burst’ in Uttarakhand “There is also no threat to of those who perished in the the neighbouring villages. disaster. At the same time, the con- A tweet from Prime Mi- cerned agencies of the nister Narendra Modi’s offi- Centre and the State were cial handle announced that asked to keep a strict vigil on a sum of ₹2 lakh would be gi- the situation, and a team ven from the PM’s Relief from DRDO, who monitor Fund to the families of the avalanches, is being flown in dead and ₹50,000 each to for surveillance and recon- the families of the injured naissance,” it added. for the avalanche caused by One motorable road and the “glacial breach”. four suspension bridges Mr. Modi, who was in As- connecting around eight vil- sam and Bengal, spoke to lages in the area with the the Uttarakhand Chief Mi- district headquarters have nister twice to review the also been washed away by situation. “Deeply worried the avalanche. about the glacier burst near In response to a question, Joshimath, Uttarakhand, Mr. Rawat said the authori- that caused destruction in ties had not been able to as- the region. Praying for well sess the damage caused by being and safety of people. the flash floods yet as the ad- Am confident that rescue ministration was busy with and relief operations on rescue operations. He an- ground are progressing nounced compensation of well,” President Ram Nath ₹4 lakh each to the families Kovind said in a tweet. In a flash: More than 100 labourers working on the Rishiganga power project in Uttarakhand are missing following the massive flooding on Sunday. * PTI Glacier collapse brings back memory of 2013 flash floods Dhauliganga river turns into a deathly torrent Press Trust of India ga and its tributaries pass Joshimath. New Delhi through important tourist There it loses its identity Originating from Vasudhara places such as Rishikesh, Ha- and the Alaknanda flows Tal, perhaps the largest gla- ridwar, Rudraprayag and southwest — through Chamo- cial lake in Uttarakhand, the Karnaprayag. Sunday’s col- li, Maithana, Nandaprayag, Dhauliganga flows in a lapse of the glacier led to rip- Karnaprayag until it meets meandering course, which pling flash floods in the the Mandakini river, coming takes it through the Nanda Dhauliganga and the Rishi- from the north at Devi National Park. ganga and also impacted the Rudraprayag. Known for its spectacular- Alaknanda. After subsuming Mandaki- ly beautiful route and white- This also brought the ni, the Alaknanda carries on water rafting, the river spotlight on the 2013 flash past Srinagar, before joining turned into a deathly torrent floods in the hill States that the Ganga at Devprayag near on Sunday after a part of the wiped out settlements and Kedarnath. Nanda Devi glacier broke off killed over 5,000 people. Alaknanda then disap- and collapsed into it. Dhauliganga is joined by pears and the mighty Ganga The Dhauliganga, which Rishiganga river at Raini, carries on its journey, first merges with the Alaknanda, where the disaster at the flowing south then west is one of the several tributar- power project dam took through important pilgrim- ies of the Ganga, as the river place. age centres such as Rishikesh flows down from the Hima- The river takes a V-turn and finally descending into layas and snakes its way and continues to flow in the the Indo-Gangetic plains at through the plains. The trib- opposite direction, toward Haridwar. utaries intersect, flow into north, as the Dhauliganga Still on a southern course, one another or meander for another 30-odd km, the Ganga goes past Bijnor away passing through sever- through Tapovan, until it is when it loops back on an al towns in five States. joined by the Alaknanda at easterly course toward In Uttarakhand, the Gan- Vishnuprayag near Kanpur..