Uttarakhand: Landslide blocks tunnels of Dhauliganga project, 19 NHPC employees stuck for hours

Pithoragarh, Nineteen employees of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) were trapped inside a power house for hours on Sunday as a landslide blocked normal and emergency tunnels of Dhauliganga Power Project in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh, officials said.

However, all of them were rescued by the administration by the evening, they said.

The path leading to the normal and emergency tunnels of the 280 MW power project in the Ealagarh area near Dharchula here in the district was blocked due to a landslide caused by heavy rains.


Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Goswami said that a joint team of the district administration, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) started rescue and relief operations.

He said that all the 19 officers and employees trapped inside have been evacuated and are safe.

Landslides in the area are being continuously monitored and necessary steps are being taken to ensure people's safety.

Earlier, Deputy District Magistrate Jitendra Verma said that JCB machines of the BRO and a haulage company were deployed to clear the debris.

He said that power generation was not affected due to the landslide of the rescue operation.