The death toll in the aftermath of a snow avalanche in Uttarakhand's Chamoli on February 7 has gone up to 55, with four more bodies’ recovery on Monday.
Three bodies were recovered from the Tapovan hydel project tunnel, while another body was found in Maithana. The search teams have also recovered 22 body parts from different places so far.
According to the Chamoli police, the identities of 29 bodies had been established. The DNA samples of unidentified bodies and 56 family members of missing persons have stored for matching.
The Joshimath police station has registered a total of 179 missing persons report. The operation of removing slush from the Tapovan tunnel is still under way and about 140 metres have been cleared. Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the National Disaster Response Force personnel are carrying out searches at Raini village, close to the Rishiganga power project site.
Relief works are also being carried out by various agencies in the affected villages. Over 460 families in various villages have been impacted. “Essential supplies have been restored in the villages which were cut off after a bridge had collapsed,” said an official.
