Rescue operations at Tapovan Tunnel Suspended

Chamoli, 11/2: The rescue operation at the Tapovan tunnel in Uttarand’s Chamoli district is suspended temporarily as a precautionary measure. Around 30-35 bodies are still trapped under the tunnel. The operation was suspended an hour after rescuers had launched a drilling operation at the site.

“A drilling operation has been started by the rescue teams at 2 am to peep into the slush-flushing tunnel that is about 12-13 meters below,” Vivek Kumar Pandey, the spokesperson for the lead rescue agency, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said in Delhi.

As the continuous flow of slush and silt remains a major obstacle between the rescuers and those trapped inside the tunnel, a boring operation by a huge machine is being undertaken to see if this problem can be addressed in a different way and the teams can go further deep inside, he said.

“More slush and water coming from inside the tunnel is making the way ahead difficult,” Pandey added.