New Delhi, Feb 8 A team of scientists from the Center for Snow and Avalanche Study of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday left for the Joshimath area for surveillance and reconnaissance.
The team was flown to Dehradun on Sunday night. It will keep surveillance and do reconnaissance of the spot where the glacier broke on Sunday. The glacial burst led to the rising of water levels in the river Rishi Ganga, which washed away the hydro project of 13.2 megawatt.
Nearly 150 people are missing so far, however, the ITBP and other central and state rescue teams have managed to save the lives of over a dozen people buried in different tunnels.
The flash flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauliganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda.
The flash flood occurred in the Rishi Ganga at around 10.45 a.m. due to a glacier falling into it and exponentially increasing the volume of water. Due to this, the Rishi Ganga hydro project was completely devastated.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and state authorities have been carrying out rescue operations along with the army in the region. The Centre is monitoring the situation and joint efforts of all the agencies are being made to rescue those trapped.
( With inputs from IANS )
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