RISHIKESH, India – Indian authorities launched a search operation on Sunday after part of the Himalayan glacier erupted, sending a massive flood of water and debris that hit two dams and damaged several houses. At least nine people were killed and 140 missing.
The flood was caused when a portion of the Nanda Devi Glacier in the Tapovan area in northern Uttarakhand broke on Sunday morning. A video shared by officials and taken from the steep part of the hill shows a wall of water rising into one of the dams and breaking it to pieces with little resistance before continuing to howl downstream.
The Rishiganga hydropower plant on the Alaknanda River was destroyed, while the Dhauliganga hydroelectric plant on the Dhauliganga River was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police paramilitary. Flowing from the Himalayas, the two rivers meet before merging with the Ganges.
Pandey said all 12 workers trapped inside a tunnel at the Dhauliganga project were rescued and given first aid. Earlier, he said 16 people were stranded there.
Another 140 workers at the two factories were missing, Pandey said.
Surjeet Singh, a police officer, said that so far nine bodies have been recovered amid intensified rescue operations.
Pandey said soldiers expert in mountaineering and rescue operations had been called.
“The situation is under control and there is no need for panic,” he said.
Officials said that when the glacier broke, it sent water trapped behind it, as well as mud and other debris that rose on the mountain and into other bodies of water. Many villages were evacuated while authorities issued a notice urging people living on the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers to move to safer places immediately.
There were houses that were damaged by the floods, said Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesman, although he had no details on the number and whether any of the residents were injured, missing or dead.
Authorities emptied two dams further down the river to stop the floodwaters from reaching the cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, where popular tourist sites on the banks of the Ganges River have been closed and all navigation activities have been stopped.
“I heard that a glacier had broken and people were afraid that the water level would rise,” said Prince Chawla, a boat owner in Rishikesh. “But as of now, the water level hasn’t risen much here.”
Uttarakhand police chief Ashok Kumar said officials immediately alerted area residents and evacuated them to safer places.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a tweet, said that he “constantly monitors the unfortunate situation”. He added: “India is with Uttarakhand and the nation is praying for the safety of all there.”
In 2013, thousands of people were killed in Uttarakhand after heavy rains triggered landslides and floods, washed away thousands of homes and roads and severed communications in many parts of the state.