“The actual number has not been confirmed yet,” but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, chief secretary of Uttarakhand, told Reuters.
A witness reported a wall of dust, rock and water as an avalanche roared down the Dhauli Ganga river valley located more than 500 km (310 miles) north of New Delhi.
“It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone,” Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of the river in Raini village in Uttarakhand, told Reuters by phone. “I felt that even we would be swept away.”
Uttarakhand’s Police Chief Ashok Kumar told reporters more than 50 people working at the dam, the Rishiganga Hydroelectric Project, were feared dead though some others had been rescued. Kumar also said authorities had evacuated other dams to contain the water rushing in from the flooded Alakananda river.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was closely monitoring the situation.
“India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone’s safety there,” he said on Twitter, after speaking with the state’s Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
India’s air force was being readied to help with rescue operations, the government said, while Home Minister Amit Shah said disaster-response teams were being airlifted in to help with relief and rescue. Army soldiers have already been deployed and its helicopters were doing an aerial reconnaissance of the area.
The neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous, put its riverside areas on high alert.
Footage shared by locals showed the water washing away parts of the Rishiganga dam as well as whatever else was in its path.
ZZ/PR
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