By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has expressed its grief over the Uttarakhand glacier calamity and offered its condolences to the family members of those who have died or are missing in the incident.
The death toll from the disaster rose to 28 with the recovery of two more bodies on February 9.
A multi-agency operation was underway to rescue around 30 workers feared trapped inside a swamped tunnel at the Tapovan power project in Chamoli district continued, officials said.
Around 170 people are still missing after the February 7 disaster apparently caused by a glacier burst, according to the latest data.
“We are still getting reports of the damage of bridges, hydropower projects and loss of life,” says a CBCI press release.
The bishops expressed deep appreciation for the relief efforts undertaken by the government and government agencies.
“Our own Caritas Institutes will render all assistance we can to bring succor and hope to the affected people,” said the February press release issued by CBCI president Cardinal Oswald Gracias.
Meanwhile the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said its personnel recovered two bodies from debris in Raini village on February 9 morning. The workers have been trapped in the 12-foot-high and about 2.5-km-long ‘head race tunnel.’
“Clearing of debris and slush continued the whole night. About 120 meters of the tunnel entrance stretch is now clear,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said in Delhi. “Height of accumulated slush reduced more. ITBP personnel are waiting to enter as soon as any movement deep inside the tunnel is possible,” he said.
A senior official, however, said the rescuers have not been able to make any contact with those stuck inside but they are hopeful for “signs of life”. Relief is also being distributed by helicopters among residents of more than a dozen villages cut off due to the washing away of a bridge in the avalanche at Malari.
Private and IAF helicopters have so far distributed around 100 ration kits in the affected areas of 13 villages with a total population of around 2,500, officials said.
On February 9, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas, visited the ITBP hospital in Joshimath and met the 12 workers who were rescued from a small tunnel in Tapovan on February 7 evening.
Talking to reporters, Rawat said the priority is to get to those trapped inside the tunnel and save as many lives as possible. Additional heavy machines could be pressed into service to expedite the process of clearing tons of debris inside the tunnel, blocking the path of rescue personnel.
The clearing of slush and debris is a painstaking exercise but the multi-agency group of rescuers have a strong strength at the spot and they are taking turns to dig in deeper with the help of heavy machines and manual efforts.
Personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, NDRF, state disaster response force and the Army have been toiling with heavy earth-moving equipment since Sunday night to clear the tunnel and rescue those trapped. As the temperature dipped to freezing levels, bonfires were lit at multiple locations to keep the rescuers warm.
The site was replete with slush, silt and debris in the aftermath of the flash flood.
The about 1,500-meter tunnel has become the focal point of rescue operations in this disaster that appears to have been triggered after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier possibly burst through its banks in Chamoli district, leading to an avalanche and a deluge that ripped through the Alaknanda river system in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas.
While the ITBP has deployed as many as 300 personnel for conducting rescue operations at this site, a strong strength of the NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel is also present here. The ITBP and other rescuers are carrying tall wooden planks which are being used by rescuers to wade in through the slush and will later also help create a platform to pull out the trapped people using ropes.
Pandey had earlier said these teams are ready with dragon light sets, oxygen cylinders and stretchers to provide immediate medical help to those trapped inside.
(With inputs from thehindu.com)