Hopes of tunnel rescue dim as flood toll hits 32

DEHRADUN/JOSHIMATH: Rescuers scoured ravines and waded through slush to find victims of devastating flash floods in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli region on Tuesday but struggled to break through a column of mud and debris choking a key tunnel with dozens of workers trapped inside.

Toll from the tragedy climbed to 32 as rescue personnel pulled out bodies, some of which were lodged in knee-deep silt or atop trees. At least 174 people are still missing — 35 of them inside the 1.7km tunnel at the Tapovan power project where two days of excavation has failed to make much headway.

“There is almost no progress… there is a ‘T bend’ at a distance of 180m but there is so much muck inside that after clearing till 150m, the muck from inside is again filling the cleared area,” said state director general of police Ashok Kumar.

In Delhi, Union home minister Amit Shah told Parliament that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was monitoring the situation and that efforts were being made on a war footing to rescue people. “I assure the House that the Centre is extending all possible assistance to the state government for relief and rescue work. The central government is working in close coordination with the state and all necessary steps, which are considered appropriate, are being taken,” he told Rajya Sabha. Shah added that according to the state government, there was no danger of downstream flooding and the rise in water level was contained.