The government will work towards setting up early warning systems at power projects of the NTPC and other agencies in the mountain states. The Union Power minister RK Singh said this while talking to media persons after visiting the disaster affected area in Chamoli district on Monday.
The minister said that in order to get advance warning of such disasters in mountainous areas where power projects are being undertaken, early warning systems will be set up in such areas in the interests of the local residents and the power projects. This will help provide early warning about avalanche and other issues caused by heavy snowfall in mountainous areas. Singh further said that he had directed the formation of an expert committee comprising members from NTPC, THDC and SJVN to ascertain what had actually happened in the Chamoli disaster. Based on the satellite images provided by ISRO it had been seen that 3-4 days of snow had accumulated and the disaster had taken place when the trigger point had been reached. A team of NTPC and THDC officials had left on foot to reach up the valley to see what had happened at the site, he added.
The minister further said that in order to expedite the rescue of the 30 plus persons stuck in a tunnel, five slurry pumps are being brought from another project site to speed up removal of the sludge from the tunnel. He said that the barrage of the NTPC project played an important role in stalling the swift flow of water and debris which would otherwise have caused a major disaster further downstream.
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
