Rescue teams worked through the night to find survivors trapped under the debris. Most of the missing are workers from two hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, which were hit by the avalanche.
Footage from Sunday’s disaster shows a fast-moving wall of water and rocks barreling down a narrow gorge and smashing through a dam at the smaller hydroelectric project before surging downstream, wiping out buildings trees and people.
Some 2,500 people in 13 villages were cut off by the ensuing flash floods, Ashok Kumar, senior official with the Uttarakhand police said Monday.
Rescue efforts Monday were focused on clearing sludge and debris from a tunnel at the larger state-owned hydroelectric project. About 30 to 35 workers are believed to be trapped inside.
According to Reuters, teams had managed to drill through 150 meters of the 2.5 km (1.5 miles) long tunnel, but the sheer volume of debris was slowing progress. On Sunday, rescuers pulled out alive 12 people who had been trapped in another, smaller tunnel at the same site, according to Kumar.
Others have pointed to a high level of construction along the state’s rivers, which in recent years have seen an increasing number of hydroelectric dams, projects and infrastructure connecting them, such as roads and new developments.
“This was a one-time incident. The glacier broke, and with … debris all came down and flooded the power project here,” said Kumar, the Uttarakhand police official.
Sunday’s floods brought back memories of a similar devastating incident in 2013, when the state was hit by what was dubbed by the area’s chief minister as a “Himalayan tsunami.” Nearly 6,000 people lost their lives in those floods, according to Reuters.
Widespread damage
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said at a press conference Sunday that “Uttarakhand has witnessed a terrible disaster” and the state was expecting “significant loss to human lives and infrastructure.”
It was after 10 a.m. local time when a piece of the Nanda Devi glacier broke apart, sending torrents of water down the Dhauli Ganga river valley located more than 500 km (310 miles) north of New Delhi, according to authorities.
Most of the destruction was centered on two hydropower projects. The Rishiganga Power project — a small dam of 13.2 megawatts — was completely washed away in the deluge, India’s Ministry of Power said in a statement Monday.
The state’s chief minister said 35 people were working at the plant when the waters hit, and “roughly 29 to 30 people are missing.” Rising waters prompted authorities to issue urgent evacuation notices to people living further down the Alaknanda River.
As flash floods surged down the valley, they caused extensive damage to a second and much larger 520 megawatt hydro project under construction about 5 kilometers away from the other project. Some 176 laborers were working on the Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project site, which has two tunnels, and is state-owned by NTPC, India’s largest power utility.
More than 30 workers could be stuck in the second tunnel, he warned. Rescuers are battling to reach them but the surrounding road is covered in debris.
A witness told Reuters that the avalanche of dust, rock and water came without warning.
“It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone,” Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of the river in Raini village in Uttarakhand, told Reuters by phone. “I felt that even we would be swept away.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a message of support in the wake of the disaster. “Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand,” he tweeted.
“India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone’s safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) deployment, rescue work and relief operations.”
Avalanche was a ‘climate event,’ expert says
While experts say it is too early to conclude exactly what led to Sunday’s avalanche, they have said human-induced global warming is certainly at play.
Dr. Ankal Prakash, Research Director at Indian School of Business’ Bharti Institute of Public Policy, said “it looks like a climate change event.”
The 2019 report, Prakash said, documented how “climate change has altered the region to an extent that the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters will increase.”
The area where the avalanche and flooding occurred is extremely remote and mountainous and it can take days to reach some of the villages dotted throughout the valleys, according to Prakash.
These places “need basic facilities such as infrastructure, water, roads, and sanitation,” Prakash said, adding that “we need development here because they are some of the poorest areas.”
However, discussion should focus on what kind of development and projects are built, and to assess how damaging they could be to the environment, he said.
CNN’s Akanksha Sharma and Rishabh Pratap contributed reporting.
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