Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told PTI that the accident took place above the forests of Gaurikund amid poor visibility due to bad weather.
The shocking scenes of physical and psychological trauma unfolded on a massive scale as search and rescue operations were underway, digging out mud-buried bodies and rescuing the injured trapped in slush and rocks after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst devastated Chositi village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday.
Forty-one Border Road Organisation labourers working to clear snow near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district were trapped under an avalanche on Friday.
Two foreign women mountaineers, who were stranded at a height of 6,015 metres on way to the Chaukhamba III peak in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, were rescued on Sunday morning, the District Disaster Management Centre in Gopeshwar said.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
'There is a clear relationship between the Char Dham road widening and these landslides.' 'The situation has further worsened with the massive influx of tourists whose number are running into several lakhs per month.' 'No parameters have been laid down to control tourist inflow and the result is that the Char Dham yatra has seen a sharp escalation in accidents and loss of lives.'
Nagnyal said 26 people were in the vehicle and most of them were residents of Delhi. Ten people died in the accident, the IG said.
Terming it a "very sorry state of affairs", the apex court said the state was just trying to find some excuse or the other.
The Indian Air Force's Chinook and MI17 helicopters on Friday joined the rescue operations in Uttarakhand to evacuate over 500 pilgrims stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath, with 10 of them being airlifted in the first round.
The vehicle -- a tempo traveller -- met with the accident near the Gholthir village on the Badrinath National Highway between Rudraprayag and Gauchar, they said.
'Above 2,000 metres the gradient of the Himalayas is very steep and if you build any infrastructure (roads, dams, hydro power projects) in these regions, it will not be able to sustain these events (the onslaught of debris that comes down with great speeds).'
Singh said the Modi government has changed the approach adopted by previous governments that the border areas are buffer zones between the plains and the potential adversary.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to release its preliminary report this week on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which resulted in the deaths of at least 260 people. The investigation is ongoing, with the help of foreign experts, and the black box and voice recorder data are being analyzed.
Locals hold gradual land subsidence responsible for the fissures and attribute it to the widening of the national highway, violation of norms in construction works related to mandi parishad, erosion caused by the Pindar river and unsystematic flushing out of rainwater.
The India meteorological department said heatwave conditions will persist for at least two more days.
"This entire period is highly sensitive in terms of law and order, healthcare, sanitation, education, and disaster management. Hence, all related departments and district administrations must work with coordination and accountability," Adityanath said, according to an official statement.
Twelve people, including three of a family, were killed and six injured in heavy overnight rains that triggered flooding and house collapse as several rivers swelled in Uttarakhand, officials said on Thursday.
The avalanche hit the BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying the workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army.
The death toll in the avalanche triggered by the bursting of a glacier in Chamoli has gone up to 58 as a total of 11 bodies are recovered from the Tapovan tunnel, whereas 146 people are still missing, said Uttarakhand Police on Tuesday.
More disasters are waiting to happen in Uttarakhand region, a senior Indian Air Force officer, who played a key role in search, rescue and relief operations there, has said.
Eight persons were trapped inside after a section of roof collapsed in the under construction stretch in the tunnel of Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project, Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Saturday.
There are wild rumours not just in Uttarakhand but all over the country about the actual damage done by excessive rains, cloud bursts and landslides in the state.
The bodies of the last four of the trapped labourers were pulled out from the site of the avalanche-hit Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Chamoli on Sunday, taking the death toll to eight as authorities ended the nearly 60-hour rescue operation.
In view of the safety of the passengers, the district administration stopped the passengers at Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous bad weather.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said saving lives and extending all help to the families of the deceased is the state government's priority.
The aftermath of the cloudburst triggered by heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said none of the 41 labourers rescued from an under-construction road tunnel in Uttarkashi district was in a critical condition.
It has been a week since 41 labourers got trapped inside an under-construction tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district after parts of the structure collapsed following a landslide last Sunday.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday visited the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel site for a review of the rescue operations being carried out there to evacuate 40 labourers trapped inside since Sunday morning following its partial collapse.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday asked authorities in all districts on the banks of the Ganga river to be on a high alert and continuously monitor the water level after a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.
Rescue efforts continue in Telangana for eight people trapped in a collapsed tunnel, but hopes for their survival are fading as experts from the Geological Survey of India and the National Geographical Research Institute have been brought in. The tunnel is filled with debris, making the rescue operation extremely difficult. Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, and other agencies, no breakthrough has been achieved so far.
Endoscopic and robotic cameras on Monday were brought to the Nagarkurnool (SLBC) tunnel for the rescue operation.
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
'Geological processes occur at time scales that are beyond human imagination, but we need to understand these events.'
A packed beyond capacity bus carrying passengers returning to work after Diwali fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, killing at least 36 of the over 60 people on board.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde led the nation in paying tributes to the twenty bravehearts, who died in Tuesday's chopper crash while rescuing stranded people in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
The recent tragedy confirms the view of humanitarian aid as a political weapon
The chances of survival for eight people trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Telangana are "very remote," according to a minister. Rescue efforts are ongoing but the minister says it could take three to four days to reach the trapped individuals due to the debris and muck. The minister also mentioned a team of rat miners, who had rescued construction workers in Uttarakhand in 2023, are now assisting with the rescue efforts.
'Joro shoro se rescue operation chal raha hai.'
Expansion of hydel projects, roads and tourism is making the Himalaya in Uttarakhand crumble. Jyotsna Singh reports
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances