All those killed in the glacial disaster in Uttarakhand suffered bodily injuries, and sludge and water entered their lungs, Chamoli Chief Medical Officer G S Rana said on Tuesday.
On February 7, a flash flood triggered by a glacier burst in Chamoli killed a large number of people, besides demolishing a 13.2-mw hydel project in the Rishiganga, and caused extensive damage to the 520-mw Dhauliganga hydel project of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
“Post-mortem has been conducted on all the 58 bodies recovered so far by February 16 and I have seen the reports. All of them died of injuries sustained on their bodies and due to sludge and water entering their lungs,” Rana said in a video statement.
So far nine bodies have been pulled out from Adit tunnel at the National Thermal Power Corporation’s Tapovan-Vishnugad project site, choked by debris after the February 7 flood which ripped into two hydel plants in the Alaknanda river system.
Apart from the confirmed 58 dead, 150 others are still missing. The multi-agency rescue effort in Chamoli district is focusing on the Tapovan tunnel where about 30 workers were feared trapped. The body of Satypal Singh Bartwal from Masoli village in Chamoli district was among those found in the tunnel on Monday.
“We had hoped Satyapal would return alive. But now we will have to return home with my brother’s body. It’s unbearable,” said his elder brother.
His other relatives, who have been camping at Tapovan village since the day the tragedy struck, also broke down after identifying the body.
Officials said the other approach at reaching the trapped workers by widening a hole drilled into the tunnel system does not appear to be working. A camera or tube cannot be inserted as the hole is choked with sludge.
Families of some of the missing people continue their vigil near the tunnel, plucking up the courage to take a look every time a body is brought out. But many are beginning now to return to their homes. The relatives of Jitendra, a resident of Jammu brought out dead from the tunnel on Sunday, are also packing up to leave.
His younger brother Pawan said seven of them had come from Jammu after hearing about the disaster. Jitendra’s phone was switched off. We had been scouring different areas of Tapovan and Joshimath for four days in search of Jitendra until his body was brought out of the tunnel on Sunday. It’s tragic,” he said.
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