Glacier burst: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat warns against misleading social media reports

New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has cautioned against misleading and factless reports on social media about glacial burst that took place in the Rishiganga river, a few kilometres from Joshimath, along with the Reni village on Sunday (February 7). The glacial burst swept away four 'jhoola pulls' and the Rishiganga hydropower project in the said village.

In a social media post in Hindi, CM Rawat said, "Misleading and factless news is being spread on social media by some person regarding the rise in the water level in Joshimath. I request everyone to ignore such rumours, and trust only those sources which are reliable."

कृपया अफ़वाहों पर बिलकुल ध्यान ना दें। #Uttrakhand https://t.co/AbeKOVozZf — Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat earlier said seven bodies were recovered and at least 125 were missing. Swirling waters of the river gurgling downwards are causing fear among people living in the area, he said late Sunday night. According to the latest reports, at least 10 people are dead and about  125 are missing.   

Notably, a multi-agency rescue operation is still on in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli region which was hit by a massive flood following the Nanda Devi glacier burst at Joshimath on Sunday. So far, 8 bodies have reportedly been recovered from the rescue operation in Tapovan’s Dhauliganga. As many as 170 labourers — 148 employed at the NTPC plant and 22 at Rishiganga are still missing, said reports coming in. 

The incident came as a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge which led to widespread devastation in 2013. A devastating natural disaster in the form of torrential rains of unseen magnitude had struck Kedarnath on 16-17 June in 2013. 

The sudden flood in the middle of the day in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers -- all intricately linked tributaries of the Ganga -- triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas.

Two power projects -NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project -were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. As night fell in the ecologically fragile Himalayas and rescue work in the difficult to access areas became more difficult, there were fears they may be dead.

A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishi Ganga has swept away in the glacier burst but there was no danger of floods in downstream areas as the water level had been contained, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, was informed at an emergency meeting in the national capital earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, were put on high alert and forces of the ITBP and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed in to help with the rescue and relief effort.