NEW DELHI: Indian rescue workers battled through tonnes of rock and mud Tuesday searching for survivors in a choked Himalayan tunnel after a deadly flood — apparently triggered by a glacial burst — smashed through two mountain dam projects.
More than 170 people were still missing, two days after a wall of water and debris hurtled down a valley in the northern state of Uttarakhand, destroying bridges and roads, hitting two hydroelectric power plants and killing 31.
The disaster has been blamed on rapidly melting glaciers in the Himalayan region caused by global warming.
Building activity for dams and dredging riverbeds for sand and the clearing of trees for new roads — some to beef up defence on the Chinese border — are other factors.
Most of those missing were employees at two of the many hydro plants being built around Uttarakhand, home to soaring Himalayan peaks and the sources of the Ganges river.
Hundreds of rescue workers were involved in the operation across the state, using helicopters equipped with surface-penetrating high-definition cameras, as well as sniffer dogs.
On Tuesday the focus was attempting to locate and extract 34 workers who were in a network of tunnels when the 20-metre-high (70-foot) barrage of icy water and debris roared through on Sunday morning. (AFP/RSS)
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