3 feared trapped, 16 rescued as water, debris enter tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli

At least three workers were feared trapped and 16 rescued on Thursday after water and debris entered a tunnel under construction at a hydroelectric project site in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, officials said.

Some of those rescued sustained minor injuries in the incident that occurred at the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) Limited’s project site in the Pipalkoti area. The construction work is being carried out by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), the officials said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government’s top priority is to safely rescue everyone trapped.

According to information released by the state government, 18 to 19 workers were trapped inside the tunnel around 7 pm. So far, 16 of them have been safely rescued and the operation to bring out the remaining workers is underway.

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan told PTI that reports were received that several workers were trapped after water and debris entered the tunnel of the Pipalkoti hydroelectric project.

Police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and other agencies rushed to the spot. Initially, eight workers were rescued and then another eight were brought out, he said.

According to the officials, the condition of those rescued is stable. Some of them sustained minor injuries. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team from Rudraprayag is on the way to Pipalkoti to join the rescue operation.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Army teams have also been deployed. District Magistrate (DM) Gaurav Kumar has reached the spot and is overseeing the entire operation, the officials said.

In a post on X, Chief Minister Dhami expressed concern over the incident and directed all agencies to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing.

The government’s top priority is to safely rescue every person trapped inside the tunnel, he said, adding that he is receiving real-time updates on the situation.

Vinod Kumar Suman, Secretary of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department, said the situation is being continuously monitored from emergency operation centres and additional teams will be deployed if needed.