India glacier avalanche leaves 18 dead, more than 200 missing
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
India glacier avalanche leaves 18 dead, more than 200 missing

South Asia

Reuters
08 February, 2021, 11:20 am
Last modified: 08 February, 2021, 04:14 pm

Related News

  • India exported wheat worth $473 million in April
  • India restricts sugar exports at 10 million tonnes
  • Worry as India to limit sugar export
  • Tata Steel says India export tax could alter output targets
  • India’s billionaire race sees one tycoon pulling away

India glacier avalanche leaves 18 dead, more than 200 missing

Most of the missing were people working on the two projects, part of the many the government has been building deep in the mountains of Uttarakhand state as part of a development push

Reuters
08 February, 2021, 11:20 am
Last modified: 08 February, 2021, 04:14 pm
Members of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tend to people rescued after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a small hydroelectric dam, in Chormi village in Tapovan in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, February 7, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Members of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tend to people rescued after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a small hydroelectric dam, in Chormi village in Tapovan in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, February 7, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Rescuers searched for more than 200 people missing in the Indian Himalayas on Monday, including some trapped in a tunnel, after part of a glacier broke away, sending a torrent of water, rock and dust down a mountain valley.

Sunday's violent surge below Nanda Devi, India's second-highest peak, swept away the small Rishiganga hydro electric project and damaged a bigger one further down the Dhauliganga river being built by state firm NTPC.

Eighteen bodies have been recovered from the mountainsides, officials said.

Most of the missing were people working on the two projects, part of the many the government has been building deep in the mountains of Uttarakhand state as part of a development push.

"As of now, around 203 people are missing," state chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, and the number was changing as more information about people caught up the deluge emerged from the remote area.

Videos on social media showed water surging through a small dam site, washing away construction equipment and bringing down small bridges.

"Everything was swept away, people, cattle and trees," Sangram Singh Rawat, a former village council member of Raini, the site closest to the Rishiganga project, told local media.

It was not immediately clear what caused the glacier burst on a bright Sunday morning. Experts said it had snowed heavily last week in the Nanda Devi area and it was possible that some of the snow started melting and may have led to an avalanche.

Rescue squads were focused on drilling their way through a 2.5 km (1.5 miles) long tunnel at the Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project site that NTPC was building 5 km (3 miles) downstream where about 30 workers were believed trapped.

"We are trying to break open the tunnel, it's a long one, about 2.5 km," said Ashok Kumar, the state police chief. He said rescuers had gone 150 metres (yards) into the tunnel but debris and slush were slowing progress.

There had been no voice contact yet with anyone in the tunnel, another official said. Heavy equipment has been employed and a dog squad flown to the site to locate survivors.

On Sunday, 12 people were rescued from another much smaller tunnel.

TRIGGER FOR GLACIER BURST

Uttarakhand is prone to flash floods and landslides and the disaster prompted calls by environment groups for a review of power projects in the ecologically sensitive mountains. In June 2013, record monsoon rains there caused devastating floods that claimed close to 6,000 lives.

A team of scientists were flown over the site of the latest accident on Monday to find out what exactly happened.

"It's a very rare incident for a glacial burst to happen. Satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region, but there's a possibility that there may be a water pocket in the region," said Mohd Farooq Azam, assistant professor, glaciology & hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore.

Water pockets are lakes inside the glaciers, which may have erupted leading to this event. Environmental groups have blamed construction activity in the mountains.

Himanshu Thakkar, co-ordinator of the South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and People, said that there were clear government recommendations against the use of explosives for construction purposes. "There have been violations."

The latest accident had also raised questions about the safety of the dams. "The dams are supposed to withstand much greater force. This was not a monsoon flood, it was much smaller."

Top News / World+Biz

India / Himalayan avalanche / Himalayan glacier / Himalayas / Sub-Himalayan region / Flood / flood affected / Flood alert

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Rajib Dhar
    Over 30 injured as BCL men attack Chhatra Dal procession near HC
  • VAT on locally-made mobile phones, fridges on cards
    VAT on locally-made mobile phones, fridges on cards
  • U.S. dollar banknotes are displayed in this illustration taken, February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
    Dollar price decreases by Tk1 in kerb market

MOST VIEWED

  • Workers carry sacks of wheat for sifting at a grain mill on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    India exported wheat worth $473 million in April
  • Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 24, 2022. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
    Sri Lanka's prime minister takes on crucial finance ministry portfolio
  • FILE PHOTO - A view of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad, Pakistan April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Caren Firouz
    Pak govt files contempt of court petition against Imran Khan
  • Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari gestures during an interview with Reuters in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
    Pakistan foreign minister says $6 billion IMF deal is 'outdated'
  • Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gestures as he travels on a vehicle to lead a protest march in Islamabad, Pakistan May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
    Azadi March: Imran gives 6-day ultimatum to announce polls
  • Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party sit atop of a crane after they removed the shipping containers, used to block the roads to prevent them from attending the protest march planned by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan 25 May 2022. Photo: REUTERS
    Pakistan’s political turmoil coincides with deepening economic woes

Related News

  • India exported wheat worth $473 million in April
  • India restricts sugar exports at 10 million tonnes
  • Worry as India to limit sugar export
  • Tata Steel says India export tax could alter output targets
  • India’s billionaire race sees one tycoon pulling away

Features

Illustration: TBS

Should Belayets be allowed to return to school at 55?

2h | Pursuit
Impact Hub Dhaka is designed to cater to connectivity, offering lots of communal areas where you can chat over coffee, watch a webinar as a group or even host events. Photo: Courtesy

Inside Impact Hub: The surprising benefits of working in a co-working space

3h | Pursuit
Pacific Jeans uses sustainable technology in washing and finishing, and now has the facility to wash with zero water. Photo: Courtesy

How big dreams and smart investment made Pacific Jeans a denim exporting giant 

4h | Panorama
Psycure has received various awards for their extraordinary contributions to promoting Sustainable Development Goals. Photo: Courtesy

Psycure: Meet the organisation serving the underserved university students (and beyond) with mental healthcare 

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Why is Thanda Garam's juice so popular?

Why is Thanda Garam's juice so popular?

2h | Videos
Tea tales at TSC

Tea tales at TSC

3h | Videos
What journalism students want to know

What journalism students want to know

4h | Videos
Where the people have more weapons than military

Where the people have more weapons than military

15h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
Bangladesh

Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi

3
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

4
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

Misfit Technologies: A Singaporean startup rooted firmly in Bangladesh

5
Illustration: TBS
Banking

Let taka slide

6
Photo: Collected
Industry

Spanish recycled cotton producer opens new facility in Bangladesh

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab