Glacier bursts in Uttarakhand's Chamoli, triggers flash flood

A massive glacier burst in Chamoli district, about 300 km east of Dehradun triggering a massive avalanche and a flash flood which damaged a dam on Rishi Ganga river on Sunday morning, officials said

Authorities have launched a search and rescue operation amid fears of casualties and an alert has been sounded in all the districts downstream up to Haridwar.

Following the incident, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat canceled all his programmes for the day to monitor the situation. As soon as the incident was reported, teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) rushed to the spot to start the rescue operations.

Watch glacial burst near power project leads to massive flood in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli

"The incident happened on Sunday morning at around 10.30 when a glacier burst near Tapovan leading to flash flood which damaged the hydel power project on it," Praveen Alok, SDRF spokesperson said.

"The local SDRF was informed at around 11 am following which three teams comprising about 30 men reached the spot to start the rescue operation. The avalanche has brought huge muck and debris in the river. The loss of life and property is yet to be ascertained," he said.

He said that an alert has been sounded on areas along the Ganga and people have been asked to stay away from the river.