Uttarakhand Govt to Declare More Than 130 People Missing in Chamoli Disaster Dead

The Uttarakhand government has initiated the process of declaring over 130 persons missing after the devastating flash floods of February 7 as “presumed dead”. The rescue teams have so far recovered 68 bodies.

According to a Times of India report, officials familiar with the matter said usually people who go missing in a disaster are declared dead if they have not been heard of for seven years. But in the case of the Chamoli disaster, it was decided to invoke provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 which allow persons who are missing to be declared dead before the stipulated seven-year-period.

With roads in the area around Raini Gram Panchayat washed out in the recent flash flood and vast stretches turned into swamps, the team was accompanied by a mountaineer from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and SDRF jawans to ensure their safe journey to the lake.

Out of the total recovered bodies on Monday, 14 were found from the tunnel at the NTC hydropower project site at Tapovan, while the rest were recovered from other areas.