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On Sunday morning, Nanda Devi Glacier bursts in Raini village of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district which has triggered an avalanche and massive flooding. According to reports till now, 7 people have died and around 170 are still missing.
The glacial burst led to the rise of water levels in the river Rishiganga and damaged the Rishiganga small hydro project of 13.2 MW. Uttarakhand CM said that of the total 35 people working at the Rishiganga Power project, roughly 29 to 30 people are missing.
The flash flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauliganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda. Some 176 laborers were working on that project, which has two tunnels. Around 15 people managed to get out of one tunnel after getting an alert on their mobile phones, and 35 to 50 workers had been rescued and returned to the NTPC plant. More than 30 workers could be stuck in the second tunnel, but the rescue work has been halted for now due to rise in water levels.
One motorable road and four suspension bridges connecting 7-8 villages in the area with the district headquarters have also been washed away by the avalanche.
The rescue and relief operations are underway by the personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The government has meanwhile said the rise in water level has been contained and that there is no risk downstream flooding. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the numbers could be higher, and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of the deceased ones.
The Uttar Pradesh government has asked all authorities in districts on the banks of the Ganga river to be on high alert and monitor water levels. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that there is no rainfall warning in the region for the next two days.
Experts say one possibility is that massive ice blocks broke off the glacier due to global warming, releasing a huge amount of water. Some are even comparing these events to the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, but officials say that this incident is not that big.
Source: zeenews.com, cnn.com, bbc.co.uk, timesofindia.com, indiatimes.com, indianexpress.com
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