The 12-foot high and 15-foot wide tunnel at Tapovan in Chamoli was blocked with slush and debris, trapping workers of an NTPC thermal power plant that was washed away. The tunnel is over 2.5 km long with just one entry and bifurcates into two, officials said, adding that it was hard to tell where the workers were trapped or whether they were together at all.

An official said it was believed that 34 people were trapped in one of the offshoots and five in the other. There has been no contact with any of them so far.

“It will be a 24X7 operation,” the official said.

Earth movers and shovels were used by hundreds of personnel and locals in the night-long mission to unclog the tunnel’s opening. In the day, personnel held sticks for better grip as they entered the sludge-filled tunnel.

Rescuers were seen in images and videos carrying wooden planks that are to be used to wade in through the slush and help create a platform to pull out the trapped people.

Teams are on standby with dragon light sets, oxygen cylinders and stretchers to provide immediate help to those brought out.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that his government is taking all measures to support the people of Uttarakhand, parts of which were hit by floods following a glacier burst on Sunday, and assured a delegation of state MPs that it is working to further strengthen infrastructure there to deal with any natural disaster in future.

According to BJP MP Anil Baluni, a Rajya Sabha member from the state, Modi said that the central government stands with the people of the hill-state in this hour of crisis and is constantly monitoring the ongoing rescue operations. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda were also present at the meeting. Modi said several institutions of the central government, be it the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force, Army or Air Force, are part of the rescue mission and state bodies are also working effectively, according to Baluni.

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The Prime Minister said, “Saddened by the building collapse in Mahad, Raigad in Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their dear ones. I pray the injured recover soon. Local authorities and NDRF teams are at the site of the tragedy, providing all possible assistance.”

Meanwhile rescue work is goin on in mahad where at least 2 person died and more than 20 feared trapped after a building collapsed in a residential area of Mahad in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Monday.

A four story building Tarique Garden collapsed in early morning where Around 40 families resided in the building. At 6.50 pm Monday, the top three floors collapsed. Some residents managed to escape before it came down. So far, 17 people have been rescued, while several are feared trapped in the debris.

Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed to the site of the accident late Monday, to join rescue operations conducted by the local police and fire brigade. A green corridor was created from Pune to Raigad to created a swift passage for the NDRF teams.

Meanwhile, Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhari ordered the registration of an offence against the builder, the architect and the contactor. The district administration has identified one Yunus Shaikh as the builder, and a Patel as the contractor.

The building had two wings A and B. Residents of the B wing came out in time and were unhurt, while some from the A wing also got out in time. The rescue operation has been underway for over 12 hours with NDRF and district authorities in coordination.

“I would request the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister to consider enhancing the compensation to be granted to the deceased and also urge them to extend financial assistance to those whose homes and families have been devastated in the incident. As guardian minister I will ensure that a civil engineer from Konkan region in the Public Works Department will lead the inquiry committee that will be set up to probe in incident. It will also have local PWD and municipal officials. An offence has already been registered against the builder and contractor and I would urge the administration to take the strictest action in this case,” says Raigad guardian minister Aditi Tatkare.

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