18 people have died and over 200 are still missing after a glacial break in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district triggered an avalanche and massive flooding of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers on Sunday morning, forcing the evacuation of thousands, and damaging both houses and the nearby Rishiganga and NTPC power projects. The burst glacier also swept away roads and forced authorities to evacuate villages. National and state disaster response teams have been deployed, as have teams from the ITBP. The Army has sent six columns and the Navy seven diving teams.
170 people - 148 employed at the NTPC plant and 22 at Rishiganga - are still missing. Around thirty others are trapped in a tunnel, reportedly around 2.5 km long, and rescue teams worked through the night to save them. Efforts are still on. Apart from the terrain and Latest News Live Updatesthe low temperature, mud and debris in the tunnel is posing a major challenge for the rescuers.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally of cases rose to 1,08,38,194 with 11,831 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries surged to 1,05,34,505, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death count increased to 1,55,080 with 84 daily new fatalities, the data showed.