Uttarakhand disaster: 3 more bodies recovered, toll climbs to 54

Dehradun: Three more bodies were recovered Monday from the Tapovan tunnel, taking the toll in the Uttarakhand flash flood to 54 as hopes of finding survivors there over a week after the disaster dimmed.

So far nine bodies have been pulled out from Adit tunnel at the National Thermal Power Corporation's Tapovan-Vishnugad project site, choked by debris after the February 7 flood which ripped into two hydel plants in the Alaknanda river system.

Apart from the confirmed 54 dead, 150 others are still missing. The multi-agency rescue effort in Chamoli district is focusing on the Tapovan tunnel where about 30 workers were feared trapped.

The body of Satypal Singh Bartwal from Masoli village in Chamoli district was among those found in the tunnel on Monday.

"We had hoped Satyapal would return alive. But now we will have to return home with my brother's body. It's unbearable," said his elder brother.

Officials said the other approach at reaching the trapped workers by widening a hole drilled into the tunnel system does not appear to be working. A camera or tube cannot be inserted as the hole is choked with sludge.

Rescuing the trapped people is now possible only with the help of excavators, Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadauria said.