DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar on Tuesday said that the ongoing search and rescue operations will continue till the last missing person is found in the disaster-hit Chamoli district.
Presently, search, rescue and relief operations are underway at the flash flood ravaged Raini village, around NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad hydro-power project and several other downstream areas along the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers.
“The muck clearing work inside the tunnel is likely to be completed in the next few days,” Kumar said. On Tuesday, two more bodies were recovered from the slush choked tunnel of NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro-power project, bringing the death toll to 58, while 146 people are still reported to be missing.
Till date, 11 bodies — believed to be of the workers of the power plant — have been recovered and over 20 workers who were reported to be working inside the tunnel at the time of the flash floods are still missing, officials said.
Chamoli chief medical officer Dr GS Rana said that an analysis of the post-mortem reports of the victims showed injuries on their bodies and presence of slush, concrete and water in their lungs. Meanwhile, NTPC has started releasing compensation to the families of Tapovan workers, who have lost their lives.