7 dead as water floods Chamoli tunnel, search on for 3 missing
Seven workers died when water gushed inside a tunnel under construction at a hydroelectric project site in Chamoli district, officials said on Friday.
Search for three missing persons is currently underway, they said.
The incident occurred in a tunnel at Mayapur (Pipalkoti), when landslides and subsidence caused debris and water to fill half of the tunnel, trapping workers inside.
District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said 22 people were inside the tunnel at the time of the incident on Thursday.
Of them, 19 were rescued overnight, seven died, and a search for the three missing is on, he said.
According to a statement, the deceased were identified as Pradeep Singh Pawar of Tehri, Mukesh of Chamoli, Durlabh Sharma of Bihar, Vijay Hansda and Jitendra Kumar of Jharkhand, and Lokeshwar and Bhuneshwar, whose native place could not yet be ascertained.
The missing have been identified as Lucas Topno from Jharkhand, and Chetan Poyam and Devnath from Chhattisgarh.
According to a report, the injured were Harbil Gudiya, Kamda, Nirastar Bhingra, Vinod Ravana, Dina Begra, and Khela Ram Bisra, all from Jharkhand, Sunil Diwan and Pen Singh from Chhattisgarh, Subeg Singh from Punjab, and Tilakraj from Himachal Pradesh.
Rohit Pandey of Bihar was referred to the Base Hospital in Srinagar (Pauri Garhwal district) for advanced treatment, while Govindo Mandal of West Bengal was discharged after treatment.
Six rescue personnel entered the tunnel, which is still filled with water.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and the police are carrying out the rescue.
Garhwal Range Inspector General Rajeev Swaroop said continuous rain is posing difficulties in the rescue operation, but, he said, he is confident that operation will be successful
"Water has accumulated in the area where the debris settled, and we are rapidly pumping it out using machinery. Continuous rainfall is posing some challenges to the operation... We have designated a specific operational area where we are meticulously checking every square metre," he told PTI Videos.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami landed at Pipalkoti in a helicopter to oversee operations.
District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar, who was at the site, has called for marshalling all resources needed to locate the missing persons.
The tunnel construction is a part of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation's Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project.
On November 12, 2023, a portion of the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi district collapsed, trapping 41 workers.
All of them were rescued in a multi-agency rescue operation that lasted 17 days.
