After a glacier-break at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district triggered massive flooding of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers on Sunday, seven people were killed and 170 are still missing. Many villages were evacuated as floods swept away five bridges, damaged homes and the nearby NTPC power plant, and washed away a small hydro power project near Rishiganga. Six people were injured in the incident. National and state disaster response teams have been deployed, as have teams from the ITBP. The Army has sent six columns and the Navy seven diving teams. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone’s safety.”

One hundred forty-eight people employed at the NTPC plant and 22 at Rishiganga are still missing. Twelve people trapped in an under-construction tunnel have been rescued by an ITBP team.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the family of those killed. An extra Rs 2 lakh will be given from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, with Rs 50,000 for those with serious injuries.

The NCMC (National Crisis Management Committee) met late Sunday evening and said that the information from the Central Water Commission (CWC) indicated there was no danger of downstream flooding at this point, and that the rise in water levels had been contained. There is also no threat to the neighbouring villages, the NCMC said after it met.

IAF officials said that three choppers, including two Mi-17s and one ALH Dhruv chopper, of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were stationed in Dehradun and nearby areas for rescue operations.

Indo-Tibetan Border Patrol (ITBP) personnel had arrived in Tapovan and Reni areas shortly after the flash floods had occurred.

Deployment in separate columns have been made at village Ringi near Joshimath: two columns from Joshimath and two from Auli, while two columns are on standby; an engineering task force with two JCBs; medical column with two ambulances; two Cheetah helicopters from army aviation; a control room at Joshimath; 60 staff of the NDRF moved with five tonnes of load from Hindon to Jolly Grant Airport; one more C130 and one AN-32 ready at Hindon for additional NDRF teams; three Mi-17 positioned at Jolly Grant to airlift  NDRF teams to Joshimath; MARCOS teams, 16 personnel at Delhi and 40 at Mumbai, ready for deployment.

“Over 200 jawans are on the job and working in collaboration with local administration. One team is on the spot to assess the situation,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Pandey said. He further added, “Another team is deployed near Joshimath to raise awareness and evacuate people. The situation is under control.”