U'khand glacier burst: 55 bodies recovered till now, rescue operation underway

The death toll in the avalanche triggered by the bursting of a glacier in Chamoli, Uttrakhand has gone up to 55, Chamoli Police said on Monday.

"Today, three more bodies have been recovered from the Tapovan tunnel. Till now, from a total of 55 dead bodies and 22 human organs, we have identified 29 bodies and one organ. The DNAs of unidentified bodies have been conserved," the Chamoli police said in a tweet.

Rescue agencies have recovered three more bodies from the Tapovan tunnel and one body from Maithana village.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel along with National Disaster Response Force and other sister agencies have been conducting search and rescue operation in Chamoli district.

Missing reports of 179 people have been filed till now at the Joshimath police station, and relief and rescue operations are still underway.

The Project Director of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) hydro power project, Ujjwal Bhattacharya had earleir said, "We have progressed up to 135 metres inside the Tapovan tunnel. Bodies are being recovered with caution so as to return them to their family members."

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Police on Sunday had said that the Alaknanda River at Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal is flowing at the normal level; no alert has been issued by the district administration in this regard.

Uttarakhand Disaster Response Force has put an alarm system to detect the rise in the level of water and alert about it, in Raini village of Chamoli district.

A glacier burst in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand last week led to massive flooding in the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.

( With inputs from ANI )