150 NTPC workers go missing after Himalayan glacier flooding

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About 150 workers added The hydroelectric power station of NTPC Ltd. is feared trapped or wiped out after a flash flood that destroyed important infrastructure when a Himalayan river overflowed its banks.

The hydropower project in Rishiganga near Raini village in Uttarakhand state was damaged, as was NTPC’s project under construction on the Dhauli Ganga River near Tapovan, said Vivek Pandey, spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan police who is assisting the rescue. The Indian Army is on the scene and the Air Force is on standby.

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According to Pandey, three bodies were recovered near the NTPC Tapovan project. Authorities attribute the devastation to an avalanche caused by a glacier rupture on Sunday at about 11 a.m. local time. People living on the bank of the Alaknanda River have been asked to evacuate immediately.

Most disturbingly, this was not a flood season and there was no warning to those downstream, said Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. He said his group, an informal network of experts working on water-related infrastructure projects, is still waiting for clarity on what exactly happened.

– With the help of Sudhi Ranjan Sen

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