Relief operations at Uttarakhand disaster site come to a crawl

Ten days after an avalanche barrelled down from a breaking glacier main to the dying of 58 folks and inflicting at least 200 to go lacking, rescue and aid operations aimed at recovering our bodies have slowed to a crawl.

In Pictures | The aftermath of Uttarakhand glacier disaster

Many of these lacking have been reportedly employees on the Sunday shift at the 520-MW Tapovan Vishnugadh hydroelectric project and swept away by a storm of ice, water and particles inside minutes of the glacier-wreckage hurtling from about 2 km up½stream.

A majority of those employees are believed to have been trapped in one of many consumption tunnels of the under-construction undertaking. “The tunnel is at least 2 km long and we have so far been able to dig through barely 150 metres,” mentioned a disaster response officer working at the site. About 50 of the 58 our bodies recovered and recognized as of Wednesday have been from this stretch.

Enormous quantity of muck

An excavator manned by an operator and two Uttarakhand police personnel make frequent journeys into the tunnel every time withdrawing with a scoop of moist mud. Given the big quantity of muck that has to be scooped out, it seems that will probably be weeks earlier than even half the tunnel will be ploughed by means of. Another hindrance is that water has begun seeping by means of parts of the tunnel making it difficult to speed up excavation, mentioned one other site employee.

Also learn: Uttarakhand flood disaster | Relief operation continues in Chamoli

Then there are employees believed to be trapped close to the barrage of the plant and locals say it was solely after an agitation that officers started digging on the lookout for our bodies. Rescue operations are being led by the National Thermal Power Corporation, which is constructing the facility plant. “Their priority is to clear the tunnel and get the dam functional as soon as possible rather than look for bodies,” mentioned Atul Sate, an activist at Joshimath, the tehsil the place the disaster unfolded.

Lack of coordination

“In the first three days since the flood, there was no coordination among the various agencies — the Army, State and national disaster response force and the company. In that time, lives were lost and bodies became unreclaimable.”

Dipika Nath has come to Tapovan on the lookout for her nephew. “My relatives and I aren’t allowed into the site. With all this equipment it is difficult to believe that the pace of recovery is so slow,” she instructed The Puucho whereas perched on a bridge with some relations, overlooking the dam site.

Also learn: Scientists studying samples to know roots of Uttarakhand glacier disaster

The site is buzzing with excavators and different heavy equipment and has rescue officers of a number of corporations working around the clock. Social organisations such because the SEWA International have organised volunteers from villages surrounding Tapovan to cook dinner meals for them. However, cubicles and tents arrange for disseminating data on recoveries or a media cell are empty.