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NEW DELHI: Nine people have been confirmed dead and at least 140 missing in northern India after a Himalayan glacier ruptured and washed away a hydroelectric dam on Sunday (February 7), with floods that forced evacuation the villages downstream.
Surjeet Singh, a police officer, said nine bodies have so far been recovered amid intensified rescue operations.
The flood was caused when a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning.
A video shared by officials and taken from the side of a steep hill shows a wall of water rushing towards one of the dams and breaking it into pieces with little resistance before continuing to roar downstream.
A witness said he saw a wall of dust, rocks and water as an avalanche roared through the Dhauli Ganga River valley, located more than 500 kilometers north of New Delhi.
“It came very quickly, there was no time to alert anyone,” Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives in the upper part of Raini village in Uttarakhand, told Reuters by phone. “I felt that even we would be swept away.”
Staff from the State Disaster Response Fund prepare for deployment in Srinagar of Uttarakhand state on February 7, 2021 after a glacier broke in Chamoli district causing flash flooding on the Dhauli Ganga River. (Photo: AFP)
Uttarakhand Police Chief Ashok Kumar told reporters that more than 50 people working on the dam, the Rishiganga Hydroelectric Project, were feared to have died, although others had been rescued.
Kumar also said that the authorities had evacuated other dams to contain the water coming in from the flooded Alakananda River.
Uttarakhand is prone to flash floods and landslides and the latest disaster sparked calls from environmental groups for a review of energy projects in ecologically sensitive mountains.
State power company NTPC said Sunday’s avalanche had damaged part of its Tapovan Vishnugad hydroelectric plant that was under construction further downstream. He did not elaborate, but said the situation is being continuously monitored.
People inspect the site near the damaged Dhauliganga hydroelectric project in the village of Reni in the Chamoli district after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, on February 7, 2021 ( Photo: AP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was closely monitoring the situation.
“India supports Uttarakhand and the nation prays for the safety of everyone there,” he said on Twitter after speaking with the state’s chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat.
The Indian air force was preparing to assist with rescue operations, the federal government said, while Interior Minister Amit Shah said disaster response teams were being airlifted to assist with relief and rescue. Army soldiers have already been deployed and their helicopters were conducting an aerial reconnaissance of the area.
“All concerned officers are working on the warpath,” Shah said on Twitter, referring to Uttarakhand by its nickname, the Hindi term for “land of the gods,” due to the many Hindu temples and pilgrimage centers located throughout the world. state.
A police officer asks pilgrims to leave as the ghats along the Ganges River are emptied as a precaution in Haridwar, India, on February 7, 2021 (Photo: AP).
Neighboring Uttar Pradesh state, India’s most populous, has put its riparian areas on high alert.
Images shared by locals showed the water washing away parts of the Rishiganga Dam, as well as anything else that came its way.
Videos on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed water flowing through a small dam, dragging construction equipment.
“Currently no additional water flows are reported and there is no flood situation anywhere,” Chief Minister Rawat said on Twitter.
“There have been no reported losses in the villages along Alaknanda.”
This screenshot from video provided by KK Productions shows a huge flood of water, mud and debris flowing into the Chamoli district after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. , February 7, 2021. Photo: KK Productions via AP)
“TSUNAMI OF THE HIMALAY”
It was not immediately clear what caused the avalanche at a time when it is not the flood season. In June 2013, monsoon rains in Uttarakhand caused devastating floods that claimed nearly 6,000 lives.
That disaster was described by the media as the “Himalayan tsunami” due to the torrents of water that unleashed in the mountainous area, which threw mud and rocks that collapsed, buried houses and destroyed buildings, roads and bridges.
Police personnel prepare in Srinagar, Uttarakhand state, on February 7, 2021 after a glacier broke in the Chamoli district causing flash flooding on the Dhauli Ganga River. (Photo: AFP)
Uma Bharti, India’s former minister of water resources and a top leader of Modi’s party, criticized the construction of an energy project in the area.
“When I was a minister I requested that the Himalayas be a very sensitive place, so energy projects should not be built on the Ganges and its main tributaries,” she said on Twitter, referring to the main river that flows from the mountain.
Environmental experts called for the halt of large hydroelectric projects in the state.
“This disaster again demands serious scrutiny of the wave of hydroelectric dam construction in this eco-sensitive region,” said Ranjan Panda, a volunteer for the Climate Change Network who works on water, environment and climate change issues.
“The government should no longer ignore warnings from experts and stop building hydroelectric projects and extensive road networks in this fragile ecosystem.”
