The Sunday afternoon turned tragic for the Chamoli district of Uttrakhand where a glacier burst was reported in Reni village causing a flash flood near the bank of Dhauliganga. According to reports, around 100-150 casualties are feared while 9-10 bodies have been recovered. The state government has released helpline numbers for distressed people which are – 1070, 9557444486, 1905. Teams of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF) are deployed in affected areas who are working in coordination with the local authorities. Indian and IAF also joining the helping hands to speed up the relief work. Uttrakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has urged people on social media to refrain from sharing old visuals as they may cause panic among people. The Rishiganga Tapovan Hydropower Project has severely been affected due to the flash flood and most of the labours working on the project are believed to be missing. A flood alert has been issued for areas of Uttar Pradesh as well. Have a look at the visuals right from the Uttrakhand:
Though the evaluation of casualties is still underway, the disaster is being seen as one of the major disasters after the 2013 Kedarnath Floods. Alert has been issued from Chamoli to Haridwar.
Rescue Operations are underway at the affected areas and around 16 people have been rescued who were trapped in Tapovan Dam. They are being shifted to safe places.
Issuing flood warning, Uttrakhand police has sounded an alert stating that water level near Srinagar, Haridwar, and Rishikesh may rise.
Three Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers including, Mi-17 and ALH Dhruv have been rushed to Dehradun and nearby areas for the ongoing rescue operations.
CM Trivendra Rawat is keeping a close eye on the situations coordinating with authorities and central government for help and assistance.
People living near river banks are advised to move to safe places. Rescue forces are evacuating people from high alert areas.
