drilling operations began at 2am to enter the tunnel 12 to 13 meters below, the Indo-Tibetan Border
Rescue work on the Tapovan tunnel after the Uttarakhand disaster resumed on Thursday as drilling operations began at 2am to enter the tunnel 12 to 13 meters below, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said. So far, 32 bodies have been found from various parts of the Chamoli region on Friday. Officials say 206 people are missing, including 25-35 people trapped inside the Tapovan tunnel.
"The excavation work started with the rescue teams at 02:00 AM to enter the 12 to 13-meter-wide tunnel below. This is done from the tunnel where rescue teams are currently taking relief. Teams with tedious work will try to see if the slippery tunnel below is clearly visible or otherwise to see the chances of people trapped being rescued there, "the ITBP said.
"There is a possibility that some people may be trapped inside the tunnel, the NTPC team is using up-to-date equipment to locate it," said ITBP DIG Aparna Kumar.
Now a team of scientists investigating the incident believes that a piece of Himalayan ice flowed in the water and caused a major flood in Uttarakhand province. A glacier is a slow-moving ice cap that collects ice, rocks, sediments, and tides. Five scientists flew over snow on a helicopter, took pictures, looked at satellite imagery and collected data from the wreckage. The source of the incident, they said, was an iceberg on a remote and inaccessible island of 5,600m (18,372ft) called the Raunthi. Scientists believe that part of the glacier was folded up and suspended on a slope, which was raised by a large rock. This part is temporarily weakened by cold and melting. A mound of snow and rock collapsed on Sunday, throwing it down a steep slope, they said.
When it reached the bottom of the valley, they believed that its rocks, snow and mud fell on a small mountain range 3,600m high, which blocked it. As the water level rose in the river, it exploded. A flood of water and debris descended into the dam and caused severe flooding at the bottom of the river. Water, gravity, and landslides created a conspiracy to create violence, resulting in the loss of many lives and lives.
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