Tunnel rescue operation slowed down by rising river levels

ITBP and other agencies cut the loose ends of pipes and wires inside the Tapovan tunnel, in Chamoli district, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

The water level in the Dhauliganga river surged again briefly on Thursday, forcing rescue workers to stop for some time their operation to reach the over 30 people trapped in the Tapovan hydel project tunnel after the flash flood four days ago.

The interruption took place amid a massive effort by multi-agency rescuers to break through the sludge and debris that choked the tunnel after Sunday's disaster, which left 35 dead and about 170 missing.

Later the operation resumed but officials said they were only sending smaller teams for now to the rescue site. Hours before this sudden rise in the water, rescuers had also begun an operation to drill through the debris from the mouth of the tunnel to reach life-saving devices to the trapped workers, an apparent change in strategy after trying to shift mounds of debris.

But as information on the rise in water level upstream came, rescue workers scrambled out of the tunnel with their heavy machinery. A joint press briefing by the rescue agencies also came to sudden halt. Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria said work was temporarily halted as a precautionary measure.

Amid mounting concern over the lives of those inside, the focal point of the rescue operation remains the 1.5-km "head-race tunnel" - a part of the 2.5-km long network of tunnels. An officer said no doubt that those trapped inside must be in a bad situation without food and water. "But there is hope against hope that they are surviving somehow as the temperature inside the tunnel is about 20-25 degrees Celsius and some oxygen is possibly available to them," the officer said.

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