India Dam Collapse in Uttarakhand after Avalanche

At the time of the disaster, two gates of this barrage were open and the remaining two were in closed position. Avalanche was located upstream at a short distance from the barrage. It did not provide sufficient time for the authorities of Rishiganga Project to evacuate the site and to open the remaining two gates. Force and direct impact of the water was so much that the two gates in closed position got washed away after shearing off from the trunnion. Many bridges enroute the flood were washed away. Structure of the diversion barrage is standing intact after the flood. It was not a dam failure as is being reported by the media here and also internationally. Picture being shown in the international media showing failure of the dam is of a bridge which moved completely as one unit for some distance along with a water wave.

Downstream of the Rishi Ganga project, another diversion dam of Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project was under construction. Water gushed into the intake tunnel located at a higher elevation above the river bed and filled it with debris. People working inside this intake tunnel got trapped due to movement of the debris. More than 600 Army, ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel are engaged in the search-and-rescue operations. So far, around 16 people have been rescued from the tunnel.

Around 170 people are missing after the disaster. Only 34 bodies have been recovered so far.

Above information is scanty and has been collected from different sources. INCOLD will prepare a basic report and would share it with the ICOLD family.