Uttarakhand tragedy: Rescue ops halted as river surges

Chamoli, Feb 11: As the water level in the Dhauli Ganga river surged on Thursday, rescue operations have been temporarily halted at the tunnel in Tapovan where more than 30 people are thought to be trapped for over four days since the glacier disaster.

Orders have been given to vacate the areas downstream, officials have said.

Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria said work has been temporarily halted as a precautionary measure.

The Dhauli Ganga merges with the Alaknanda river system.

More than 200 people went missing after flash floods in Chamoli district on Sunday, believed to be brought on by a glacier burst at Nanda Devi.

Two power plants and five bridges were washed away in the torrent of water that surged downstream on Alakananda and Dhauliganga rivers towards mid-morning. So far, 32 bodies have been recovered, some from as far as 45 km away.

The rescue work has been on for three days -- the pace of the work has been slow because of the mud and sludge inside the U-shaped tunnel.