166m of Tapovan tunnel cleared

DEHRADUN: Rescuers were on Friday busy finding more bodies as they toiled hard and used different gadgets inside a tunnel in disaster hit Tapovan project in Uttarakhands Chamoli district.

“We have reached 166m deep inside the tunnel and 6m in slope. We are using all gadgets to look for more bodies," a top official said.

Elsewhere also, rescuers used dog squads, binoculars, rafts and other equipment in their search operation for 143 missing persons.

ITBP chief reviews rescue ITBP chief S S Deswal on Friday visited the Tapovan tunnel and Raini village, which bore the maximum brunt of a recent flash flood that has claimed 62 lives so far, even as over 140 people are still missing.

“The director general took stock of the search-and-rescue operations being conducted at the Tapovan tunnel. He also visited the other small tunnel, from where 12 people were rescued on February 7, the day the disaster struck," a spokesperson of the ITBP said, adding, Deswal also visited Raini village, which got cut-off.