New Delhi: The death toll from the flood caused by the glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district rose to 24 on Monday. With rescue operations underway, officials estimate that more bodies will be found.A massive effort is underway to rescue at least 30 workers trapped in a tunnel at a power project site.A day after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier possibly burst through its banks at Joshimath, triggering an avalanche and a deluge that rippled through the Alaknanda river system in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, multiple agencies have held coordinated efforts to search for survivors.While Indian Air Force teams left for the affected areas to ramp up relief efforts, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel worked through the night.Some houses were swept away and two power projects NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project were extensively damaged with scores of labourers caught in tunnels as the waters came rushing in.Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar said efforts were focussed on rescuing 30-35 labourers trapped in a 250-metre tunnel at Tapovan. Two villages, including Raini, are cut off and essentials are being supplied to them.“A total of 153 people are missing from the two hydel projects at Raini and Tapovan of which 10 bodies have been recovered while 143 are still missing,” Kumar said.Slush, debris and silt blocked the tunnel, making the rescue work difficult. The entire landscape of the ecologically fragile area was coloured a sandy grey, many structures swept away and buried under piles of silt.The state’s chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said he is leaving for the disaster site and will spend the night in the region. He said relief and rescue operations are continuing in full swing. “I request everyone to not use this natural disaster as a reason to build anti development narrative,” he added.I reiterate our government’s commitment to develop hills of Uttarakhand in a sustainable manner and we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the achievement of this goal.#Uttarakhand— Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 8, 2021Also Read: Why We Already Know the Rishi Ganga Flood Was a ‘Sooner or Later’ EventA multi-agency operation to rescue an estimated 34 people trapped inside a big tunnel at Tapovan.“Our teams worked overnight to rescue about 30 workers who are trapped in the tunnel. Specialised equipment for such operations has been deployed. We are hopeful we will able to rescue everyone,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey told news agency PTI in Delhi.Main entrance of the Tapovan tunnel being cleared by ITBP personnel with the help of machines. #Dhauliganga #Chamoli#UttarakhandGlacialBurst pic.twitter.com/KghoyyHheP— ITBP (@ITBP_official) February 8, 2021Pandey said as per figures provided to them by the administration 202 people are missing at present. He said workers from at least three states – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – are among them.“The trouble is that the supervisors of these projects are feared to have been washed away by the floods. They would have better known the identities of those missing.“However, we are informed that about 10-11 are locals from Uttarakhand, 50 or more are from Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh and some are stated to be from Bihar,” the official said.Teams of the NDRF had reached the site late on Sunday night and were seen using shovels to clear the tunnel’s approach. The force also used canine squads to help rescuers detect traces of life under the debris.More teams have been sent to the site on Mi-17 helicopters that landed at the helipad in Joshimath, NDRF chief S.N. Pradhan said in a Twitter post.🔸#Uttarakhand #GlacierBurst Update🔸@NDRFHQ @work 24×7🔸#CloseCoordWithAgencies🔸Agencies clearing main tunnel🔸This leg 180 m long to T jnctn🔸Hoping for best #Committed2Help 🇮🇳@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @BhallaAjay26 @PIBHomeAffairs @PIBDehradun @HQ_IDS_India @adgpi pic.twitter.com/PpQFnX6oYH— ѕαtчα prαdhαnसत्य नारायण प्रधान ସତ୍ଯପ୍ରଧାନ-DG NDRF (@satyaprad1) February 8, 2021Some teams from the Army, including from the Medical Corps, have also reached the disaster spot, a senior official supervising the operation said.At least 12 workers were rescued from a smaller tunnel in the area by ITBP on Sunday evening.Three of them have been admitted to the ITBP hospital at Joshimath, nearly 25 km from the Tapovan power project site, as they were feeling uneasy, the officials said. They are stable now.Personnel from the ITBP, NDRF and some state disaster response teams are clearing the tunnel since Sunday night that has been blocked with slush, debris and silt, and are inching closer towards the stuck workers.A vehicle stuck in the debris at the site of the Tapovan hydel project as rescue works undeway, a day after a glacier broke off in Joshimath causing massive flood in Dhauli Ganga River, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, February 8, 2021. Photo: PTI/Arun SharmaAs rescue efforts continued on a war footing, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said the United Nations stands ready to contribute to the ongoing rescue and assistance efforts in Uttarakhand if necessary.The secretary general is deeply saddened by the reported loss of life and dozens missing following the glacier burst and subsequent flooding, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres.Also Read: In Photos: The Broken Uttarakhand Glacier and its AftermathAccording to an India Today report, a DRDO official said that prima facie, it looks that a hanging glacier broke away from the main glacier and came down in the narrow valley. “In the valley, it formed a lake that burst later and caused the damage. The data is being analysed by our scientists in detail and if required, they would again go to get more details,” Dr L.K. Sinha said.Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of India “glacial calving” at the highest altitude in Rishiganga and Dhauliganga areas led to the disaster in Uttarakhand. “Post this devastation, we will again constitute a committee as it is too early to predict regarding the cause of incident. One of our officers is already in Dehradun. We’re also planning to constitute a team of experts who will visit the site and undertake a physical recce and use the data that is available through satellite imageries,” the director general of the Geological Survey of India said, according to news agency ANI.