Recce team at glacier-burst site
ITBP DG says tunnel op to continue till trapped are found
An ITBP reconnaissance team visited the glacier-break site on Wednesday is suspected to have triggered the massive flash flood in Uttarakhand even as its chief SS Deswal said the rescue operation to locate the 30-35 workers trapped in Tapovan tunnel will continue till it reaches a "logical conclusion."
Deswal said the paramilitary force is "very hopeful" the workers in the about 1,500 metre long tubular structure marked as 'head race tunnel', out of the total 2.5 km length, are safe with the help of possible air vents in the structure. "We are very hopeful we will be able to rescue them. The workers are stated to be located at their work station that is about 180 metres from the mouth of the Tapovan tunnel," the ITBP chief said.
"I can tell you that we will continue our efforts till any length of time... for whatever time it takes to reach the logical conclusion and find the workers. My boys are determined to locate those trapped there and we may reach that slip tunnel spot (where those trapped are said to be located) by Wednesday evening," the DG said, adding, "The only important aspect is the trapped men should get some oxygen to breathe... they can survive in the given temperature and with available clothes they may be having."
He said an ITBP team also recced the site in the upper Himalayas, where it is estimated a glacier block cracked up leading to a flash flood in the Alaknanda river system that has killed 34 people while 206 people are missing.