Authorities intensified rescue operations on Wednesday to free 25-35 workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Tapovan. Officials said that security personnel have now also deployed drones and remote sensing equipment to carry out relief operations.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nilesh Anand Bharne, the Chief Spokesperson of the Uttarakhand police, informed PTI that all strategies at the moment were focussed on rescuing those trapped inside the tunnel with the help of all the resources at their disposal, including drones and remote-sensing equipment.
Around 25-35 people are trapped. They were working inside the tunnel when the glacier burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Sunday causing heavy floods and massive destruction.
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The rescue teams have so far progressed to 80 metres inside the tunnel and have to make their way through tonnes of debris for at least 100 metres more to reach those trapped inside, the DIG further said.
Drilling through the debris has become more difficult with the silt inside the tunnel drying up and getting harder, Bharne added.
So far, 32 bodies have been recovered from different places in the avalanche-hit areas of Chamoli, of which eight have been identified, while 174 people are still missing, the State Emergency Control Centre in Dehradun said.
More than 600 Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel are engaged in the search-and-rescue operations.
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Inputs from PTI
