Rescuers pull out 6 bodies from Tapovan tunnel, 7 from other locations; toll rises to 51
Tapovan/Dehradun, Feb 14: Rescue teams on Sunday recovered 13 more bodies, including the first ones to be pulled out from the sludge-choked Tapovan tunnel where a massive operation to reach about 30 people trapped inside began after a flash flood in Chamoli district a week ago.
Six bodies were recovered from the Tapovan power project tunnel, six from Raini upstream and one from the riverbank in Rudraprayag, taking the confirmed death toll in the Uttarakhand disaster to 51.
Officials said over 150 people still remain missing after the February 7 devastation, possibly triggered by an avalanche in the upper reaches of the Alaknanda river system. A surge of water in Dhauliganga and Rishiganga rivers had ripped through two hydel projects.
Bodies of victims were being found at different locations by the river over the past week, but rescuers had so far failed to reach anyone dead or alive in the tunnel network at the National Thermal Power Corporation's 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project.
Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria and Superintendent of Police Yashwant Singh Chauhan rushed to the tunnel when the first two bodies were brought out in the early hours of Sunday.
Four more bodies were recovered later from the tunnel, which is packed with debris brought by the flash flood.
Officials said a helicopter has been kept on standby at the Tapovan rescue site to quickly fly out survivors, if there are any, for medical treatment.
Rescuers are also continuing with an alternative approach - trying to widen a hole they have drilled into another interconnected tunnel from where the trapped men could perhaps be reached.
The men found dead Sunday included Alam Singh from Tehri, Anil (Dehradun district) Jitendra Kumar (Jammu), Shesh Nath (Faridabad), JItendra Dhanai (Tehri), Suraj Thakur (Kushinagar) Jugal Kishore (Punjab), Rakesh Kapur (Himachal Pradesh), Harpal Singh (Chamoli), Ved Prakash (Gorakhpur), Dhanurdhari (Gorakhpur).
The bodies were kept at a temporary mortuary at Tapovan, officials said.
The Chamoli DM said about 445 people stranded after the flash flood have so far been sent to their villages using helicopters. Over 500 ration kits have been distributed in the affected areas.
Medical camps put up in the affected villages have so far treated 998 patients.
The process of cremating the victims after taking their DNA samples continued in Chamoli district. Two bodies and four severed limbs were cremated on Sunday.
The agencies involved in the Tapovan rescue work include the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force.
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EAM Jaishankar meets Jamaican PM, gifts over 10 BHISHM Cubes
Kingston (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discussed ways to further deepen "political, economic and people-to-people cooperation."
Jaishankar also conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Holness.
"Pleased to call on Prime Minister @AndrewHolnessJM in Kingston. Conveyed the greetings of PM @narendramodi," Jaishankar posted on X.
"Discussed deepening our political, economic and people-to-people cooperation. Value his commitment towards further strengthening India-Jamaica relations," the post further read.
Also, the external affairs minister handed over 10 BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes as a gift to Jamaica.
"Formally handed over 10 BHISHM Cubes as a gift from India to Jamaica, in the presence of PM @AndrewHolnessJM, Health Minister @christufton and FM @kaminajsmith," Jaishankar posted on X.
"The BHISHM Cube mobile hospital system, designed for rapid deployment, will help Jamaica during disasters and emergencies. The gift of these cubes is a statement of friendship, a commitment to disaster preparedness, and an outcome of innovation," the post said.
Jaishankar arrived in Kingston on Saturday evening, marking the first leg of his nine-day tour of Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at further strengthening India's strategic and cultural ties with the Caribbean nations.
Earlier in the day, he interacted with the Indian diaspora and discussed India's ongoing transformation in infrastructure, human development and technology-driven governance and entrepreneurship with them.
He also highlighted the cricket bond between both countries as India gifted a scoreboard to Jamaica.
A scoreboard was dedicated at Sabina Park in Kingston. It is the home of the Jamaica cricket team and is the only Test cricket ground in the Caribbean island nation.
The minister expressed hope that the new scoreboard would witness many memorable innings, including those symbolising the enduring friendship between the two countries.
Cricket has long been a strong cultural bridge between India and Jamaica, which is part of the West Indies cricket team.
Jamaican players, including Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding, have played a major role in shaping the legacy of West Indies cricket in the international arena, contributing to its dominance in earlier decades and its continued global appeal.
