Uttarakhand Disaster: Army Changes Strategy To Rescue 39 People In Tunnel, Search Ops Continue On Fifth Day, 170 Missing

The bodies of 34 people have been recovered so far and 170 people are still missing during the avalanche in the Uttarakhand disaster. 39 people are still stuck inside the tunnel.

Rescue ops in Tapovan area (PTI Image)

As the Uttarakhand avalanche disaster enter day 5, naval commandos are searching for missing people and have changed their strategy to rescue the people stuck in the tunnel. The bodies of 34 people have been recovered so far and 170 people are still missing. Meanwhile, the army engaged in saving 39 laborers in the Tapovan tunnel of NTPC has made a big change in its operation. Now the army is conducting an operation to drill inside the tunnel at 72 meters. This drilling is being done about 16 meters downwards. The drill will go straight into another tunnel passing under this tunnel where all the workers and project managers are in complete danger of being stranded. This operation was started at 3 am today

The army was first drilling a 75 mm hole, but they faced a problem. Now about 50 mm hole has been made. After drilling work is complete, a camera will be transported through this drill hole to the other tunnel and to check the situation of the other tunnel. The camera can give the army a view of how to rescue the people who are stuck inside the tunnel.

A massive flood-hit Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district where the water level in the Dhauliganga river rose suddenly following an avalanche near a power project at Raini village in the Tapovan area of the district. 

The rescue operation is underway and the ITBP rescued 16 people from a tunnel on Sunday. The rescue operation is jointly being carried out by State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Disaster Relief Find (NDRF) is currently underway at a tunnel in Tapovan, where teams are using JCB machines, heavy earth moving equipment and excavators to remove silt and find the missing people.

12 villages have been disconnected in the country due to the flash flood in the Uttarakhand tragedy.