GPR Scanning Helps Identify 20 Spots In Dharali Where People Could Be Trapped

Rescuers on Tuesday said they have identified 20 spots at a depth of 2.5-3 metres using Ground Penetrating Radars in the lower areas of the flood-ravaged Dharali where there is the possibility of people being trapped, officials said as search and rescue operations entered the seventh day.

Heavy equipment is being used with great caution as the soil is marshy and sinking, while machines are strictly not being used at places where there could be life, they said.

A team of experts from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) is lending a helping hand in the search operation to trace the 66 people, including 24 Nepali labourers, reported missing since the tragedy.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there is moderate to high flash flood risk in a few watersheds and neighbourhoods of 11 of Uttarakhand's 13 districts, including Uttarkashi, over the next 24 hours.

The devastating flash flood on August 5 virtually left almost half of Dharali village buried under mud and badly damaged an army camp in nearby Harsil.

"Through GPR scanning in the lower areas, 20 such spots have been found at a depth of two and a half to three metres, where buildings or other similar structures have been detected.

"Light debris and then solid ground have been found below three metres which suggest there might be people trapped at that level," said an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), who is on ground zero.

Ground Penetrating Radars (GPRs) use radio waves to detect objects and structures up to a depth of 50 metres below the surface.

However, the search operation with heavy equipment is being carried out very carefully as the soil here is marshy and sinking, he said.

Machines are strictly not being used at places where there could be life. These points are marked, and digging there is being done with hand tools, the official said.

Rescue radar, which works on radio frequency, is being used in the debris-filled areas of Dharali to speed up search operations, a technical officer of Erica Engineering, which uses the equipment, said.

According to NDRF officials at the site, equipment like GPR and rescue radar will continue to be used until the entire debris-filled area is marked.

The NGRI had used its GPRs to locate people trapped in the SLBC tunnel collapse in Telangana in February this year.

These radars of NGRI can detect human life even in the presence of mud and water, the officials said, adding that the GPR surveys will also detect anomalies within the debris.

According to officials, 42 people are missing, including nine army personnel, eight residents of Dharali village, five from nearby areas, one person from Tehri district, 13 from Bihar and six from Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from these, 29 Nepali labourers were also reported missing initially, out of which five have been contacted after the restoration of mobile network in the area, he said.

More details about the remaining 24 labourers, like their mobile numbers and places where they hailed from, have been sought from their contractors in the hope that they might also have escaped to safety like five others of their team, Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said.

Meanwhile, air rescue of stranded people was delayed by bad weather on Tuesday, even as transportation of relief material to the affected people in Dharali and Harsil continued for the seventh day.

Supply of relief materials, including food items by helicopters, could be resumed only in the afternoon after the weather cleared, with consignments of foodgrains, edibles and fuel flown from Matli and Chinyalisaur helipads for the affected people.

Materials needed by the BRO to repair the damaged stretches of the Gangotri National Highway at Songad and Dabrani were also carried by the helicopters.

Two pregnant women of Dharali village were airlifted to Matli helipad to be taken to the District Hospital, Uttarkashi.

However, weather continues to be a major challenge with the IMD saying there is moderate to high flash flood risk likely over a few watersheds and neighbourhoods of 11 of Uttarakhand's 13 districts, including Uttarkashi, over the next 24 hours.

The districts at risk include Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Nainital, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Uttarkashi, it said.

Surface runoff or inundation may occur at some fully saturated soils and low-lying areas during the period, it said.

The yatra to Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district and Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli have been suspended from August 12-14 in view of the MeT department's alert of heavy rains during the period in almost all the districts of Uttarakhand.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)