Three more bodies have been recovered by rescuers,including two from inside a tunnel of the disaster-hit Tapovan project inChamoli district in Uttarakhand, taking the total number of bodies recovered sofar to 53.
During the excavation work inside the tunnel, eight bodies have been found sofar, officials said. Elsewhere, seven bodies were recovered from the Reni areawhere the Rishiganga project was destroyed in the flood. With the recovery ofthree more bodies since Sunday night, the total has gone up to 53. Nearly 200people went missing after the February 7 morning deluge.
This is the first time since the February 7 flood that the rescuers have beenable to find bodies inside the tunnel. "We are expecting more bodies ashopes are receding for survivals," admitted a top official. There is stillno contact with the remaining trapped people inside.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nilesh Anand Bharne, who is spokesmanof the state police, claimed the rescue work had been speeded up with theinstallation of some additional machines like excavators.
The rescuers are working on two places: one inside the tunnel and other at theremains of the Rishiganga project in Reni. They have stopped the drillingprocess inside the tunnel, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Chamoli.
After days of digging and excavation works, jawans of the army, ITBP, NDRF andSDRF, who are engaged in the rescue works, had managed to open a sizeableportion of the tunnel. But the presence of heavy silt and sludge inside thetunnel slowed down the excavation and digging work, top government officialsadmitted. Rescuers also consulted NTPC officials to understand the complicateddesign of the tunnel.
As the bodies are being recovered from the debris inside the tunnel, therescuers are slowly digging so that bodies do not get hammered.