ABSTRACT
On 7th of February 2021, due to some glacial activity at Ronti peak, a rock-slide slipped into the Ronti Gad River which caused heavy discharge in Rishiganga. A massive flash flood ravaged through the Valley of Rishiganga River and completely swept away the Rishiganga Hydro-power Project near village Raini and inflicted substantial damage to the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro-power Project. At Rishiganga power project 56 personnel were expected to be working when the flash flood hit the incident site. Apart from this 12 person from Raini village were also reported missing. At NTPC Tapovan hydro-power project 136 personnel were expected to be working inside the tunnel and at the barrage area.
Immediately after the incident few videos went viral. After confirming from district administration, NDRF immediately operationalized its two teams by road. In the next two hours, three more teams were airlifted from Hindon airbase, Ghaziabad to Jollygrant, Dehradun by C-130 aircraft and further to Joshimath by ALH & MI-17 Choppers. NDRF team carried out day and night search & rescue operations at Rishiganga hydro-power project, Raini village, NTPC Tapovan barrage and inside NTPC tunnel Tapovan. Apart from this several kilometres manual search was also conducted on the both banks of River Dhauliganga. Out of 204 missing persons, 84 dead bodies have been retrieved so far. Search & rescue operation is still continued.
An attempt has been made to study the preparedness & response mechanism. The study finds the various gaps in the existing response mechanism. An endeavour had been made to identify the measures to fill up those gaps to minimize the loss of life and property in case of similar disaster in future. The study also provides a closer insight to the events which happened after the disaster. Study is based on factual records of various agencies, interviews of eye witnesses and the rescuers who worked there without caring their own lives. The study strongly recommends adopting IRS system throughout the country in letter and spirit to achieve the goal of disaster resilience community envisaged in Sendai Framework.
