The death toll in the avalanche triggered by the bursting of a glacier in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district has gone up to 58 with 11 more bodies recovered from the Tapovan tunnel, whereas 146 people are still missing, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Irrigation Minister Satpal Maharaj on Monday, said the state government will create a department to investigate the cause of the glacier burst in Chamoli and monitor the glaciers through satellite.
"All angles (related to the Chamoli glacier burst) should be investigated. We will form a department in our ministry to monitor and study all the glaciers through satellite," he told ANI.
"We are concerned over the way glaciers are melting and the tidal wave created in the mountains. The plutonium pack that was kept to monitor China's movement should also be investigated," Satpal said.
"Orders were made to place a plutonium pack to monitor China's movement at the borders. We request the government to investigate the pack too," he added.
He further stated that the railway projects in the area are safe. "As the water in the Srinagar dam was depleted, the debris flowing to the dam came to halt, keeping the railway projects safe," Maharaj said.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel along with National Disaster Response Force and other sister agencies have been conducting search and rescue operations in Chamoli district.
A glacier burst in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand last week led to massive flooding in the Dhauli Ganga and Alaknanda rivers, and damaged houses and the nearby Rishi Ganga power project.
(With inputs from ANI)
