‘How was leak overlooked?’ Uttarakhand Congress chief demands probe into Pipalkoti tunnel tragedy

THDC
executive
di ecto
Ve ma
said
autho ities
had
lowe ed
the
wate
level
by
a ou d
1.5
met es
a d
we e
co ti uously
i c easi g
the
umbe
of
pumps.

NEW
DELHI:
Utta akha d
P adesh
Co g ess
Committee
p eside t
Ga esh
Godiyal
o
Satu day
c iticised
the
Pushka
Si gh
Dhami
gove me t
ove
the
Pipalkoti
tu el
accide t
i
Chamoli
dist ict,
questio i g
how
a
epo ted
leak
at
the
site
was
allegedly
ove looked
despite
wo ke s
claimi g
it
had
pe sisted
fo
some
time.
The
c iticism
came
as
the
death
toll
i
the
u de -co st uctio
THDC
tu el
accide t
ose
to
eight,
with
two
wo ke s
still
t apped
a d
escue
ope atio s
co ti ui g.Godiyal
said
wo ke s
i ju ed
i
the
accide t
had
told
him
that
wate
leakage
had
bee
occu i g
at
the
same
spot
fo
a
co side able
pe iod
befo e
the
tu el
was
i u dated
by
a
massive
su ge
of
wate .”Whe
I
spoke
to
the
i ju ed,
I
lea ed
that
a
leak
had
bee
occu i g
fo
quite
some
time
at
the
ve y
spot
whe e
the
i cide t
took
place.
How
this
was
ove looked
o
why
the e
was
such
apathy
towa ds
it
is
a
matte
fo
fu the
i vestigatio .
NTPC
p ovided
Rs
o e
lakh,
but
that
amou t
is
i sufficie t.
I
will
discuss
what
a a geme ts
ca
be
made
to
e su e
the
families
ca
sustai
themselves
p ope ly,”
Godiyal
told
ANI.He
also
questio ed
the
compe satio
a ou ced
fo
the
families
of
those
killed
i
the
accide t.”The
CM
a ou ced
compe satio
of
Rs
fou
lakh,
though
I
believe
that
amou t
is
ot
sufficie t,”
he
said.

Co g ess
leade
Ha ik ish a
Bhatt
echoed
the
c iticism,
sayi g
the
compe satio
did
ot
eflect
the
value
of
huma
life
a d
calli g
fo
safety
audits
ac oss
all
o goi g
i f ast uctu e
p ojects
i
the
state.”Rega di g
the
a ou ced
compe satio
of
Rs
4
lakh,
a
huma
life
ca ot
be
valued
at
me ely
Rs
4
lakh,”
Bhatt
said.”Safety
audits
should
have
bee
co ducted
fo
all
such
o goi g
p ojects.
The
e ti e
populatio
of
Utta akha d
is
bea i g
the
b u t
of
these
disaste s
which
a e
ma -made.
The e
is
a
eed
fo
a
tho ough
a alysis
to
dete mi e
what
actual
i te ests
the
people
of
Utta akha d
have
i
these
la ge-scale
p ojects,”
he
added.The
death
toll
i c eased
to
eight
o
Satu day
afte
escue
teams
ecove ed
a othe
body
f om
the
tu el.
Two
othe
wo ke s
emai
t apped
i side
the
u de -co st uctio
THDC
tu el,
whe e
ope atio s
by
the
Natio al
Disaste
Respo se
Fo ce,
State
Disaste
Respo se
Fo ce,
Dist ict
Disaste
Respo se
Fo ce
a d
the
I do-Tibeta
Bo de
Police
a e
co ti ui g.Rescue
effo ts
have
bee
complicated
by
wate
a d
accumulated
sludge
i side
the
tu el,
est icti g
moveme t
a d
slowi g
the
sea ch
fo
the
emai i g
wo ke s.THDC
I dia
Limited
executive
di ecto
Ajay
Ve ma
said
the
massive
i flow
of
wate
appea ed
to
have
o igi ated
f om
a
p e-existi g
atu al
cavity.”Rega di g
the
leakage
a d
the
massive
i flux
of
wate
i
the
tu el,
it
appea s
the e
was
a
p e-existi g
atu al
cavity.
Du i g
the
ai y
seaso ,
this
cavity
filled
with
wate .
The
volume
was
so
g eat
that
it
fou d
a
weak
poi t,
specifically
whe e
we
we e
excavati g
the
tu el
f om
below,
leadi g
to
the
leakage,”
Ve ma
said.He
desc ibed
the
scale
of
floodi g
as
u p ecede ted
fo
a
hyd o-tu el
p oject.”The
i flow
co sists
mostly
of
wate ,
with
ve y
little
deb is.
Histo ically,
such
a
massive
i flux
of
wate ,
e ough
to
fill
the
tu el
fo
a
st etch
of
1.2
kilomet es,
is
u p ecede ted
i
hyd o-tu el
p ojects.
This
level
of
leakage
is
highly
u usual
a d
u expected.
It
is
a
matte
equi i g
i vestigatio ,”
he
added.Ve ma
said
autho ities
had
lowe ed
the
wate
level
by
a ou d
1.5
met es
a d
we e
co ti uously
i c easi g
the
umbe
of
pumps.”We
have
ma aged
to
lowe
the
wate
level
by
about
1.5
mete s.
We
a e
co ti uously
i c easi g
the
umbe
of
pumps
i
ope atio .
Ru i g
these
pumps
equi es
layi g
pipeli es
a d
e su i g
a
powe
supply;
we
a e
ma agi g
all
these
tasks
simulta eously,”
he
said.

He
added
that
less
tha
a
met e
of
wate
emai ed
i side
the
tu el.”We
a e
about
to
go
i side
with
the
chai ma
to
show
him
how
much
wate
has
bee
d ai ed.
Less
tha
a
met e
of
wate
emai s
ow,”
Ve ma
said.”We
will
aim
to
pump
out
all
the
wate
by
this
eve i g
a d
t y
to
co clude
the
ope atio
by
tomo ow,”
he
added.The
accide t
occu ed
o
Thu sday
eve i g
whe
a
la dslide-like
eve t
ea
the
Bi hi
Rive
se t
a
powe ful
su ge
of
wate
a d
deb is
i to
the
tu el,
t appi g
wo ke s
who
we e
o
duty,
acco di g
to
NDRF
team
comma de
Am it
Lal
Mee a.
Rescue
teams
a e
co ti ui g
effo ts
to
pump
out
wate ,
clea
sludge,
a d
each
the
emai i g
t apped
wo ke s.