Home ›› 07 Feb 2021 ›› World Biz
Indian authorities launched a search operation Saturday after a mountain glacier broke, sending a massive flood of water, mud and debris into areas below and damaging homes and a power plant.
The power plant was damaged by the flooding in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, said police official Rishi Khemka. At least 40 people were working at the plant and their fate was unknown, another police official, Ashok Kumar, told New Delhi TV.
Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesman, said some houses were also damaged in the flooding.
Officials said the glacier breaking sent water trapped behind it as well as mud and other debris surging down the mountain and into other bodies of water. An advisory was issued urging people living on the banks of the Alaknanda River to move to safer places immediately.
In 2013, more than 1,000 people were killed in Uttarakhand heavy rains triggered landslides and floods, washing away thousands of houses and roads and cutting communication links in many parts of the state.
