Rishikesh: Over A Dozen Devotees Trapped In Ganga Due To Sudden Rise In Water Level Hours After Chamoli Avalanche

Rishikesh: At least a dozen people got trapped in Ganga river in Rishikesh's Janaki Jhula on Friday, hours after a massive avalanche hit Uttarakhand's Chamoli in which over 50 people were trapped including workers who were deployed for BRO work. Upper reaches of Uttarakhand near the Badrinath Dham has been witnessing continues snowfall and rainfall since late last night which triggered a massive avalanche after a glacier burst. Not just Chamoli, but regions in Kullu-Manali, and other parts of the state are also witnessing heavy rainfall.

In Rishikesh's Janaki Jhula, dozens of devotees from Haryana got trapped due to sudden rise in the water level of the Ganges. The trapped devotees were evacuated safely by the authorities.

Meanwhile, speaking on Chamoli Avalanche, Uttarakhand Disaster Management secretary Vinod Suman said, “The situation there is difficult as there is continuous snowfall in the area. A team of 65 people is engaged in the rescue mission. So far, 10 people have been rescued, operation is underway to rescue those trapped. We have made a demand for army helicopter. Rescued persons have been admitted to ITBP hospital in Mana.”

Speaking on the incident, an ITBP officer Piyush Pushkar said, “There is an ITBP company in Mana, our people are deployed there. Heavy snowfall started suddenly on Friday morning. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) work has been damaged due to avalanche in Chamoli. It has been learned that they are stuck there due to avalanche. So far 10 people have been evacuated from there.”

The snowfall had started at around 4 am this morning, while the avalanche happened at 5 am. After receiving information about the avalanche, troops were dispatched for the rescue operation, ITBP personnel informed.

Vinod Suman further informed that they are going to send army helicopters as well for the rescue operation as soon as the weather conditions improves in the region.