Rescue teams battle flooding after landslide kills seven workers in India

At least seven workers lost their lives and 13 were injured when a landslide caused water and debris to flood a tunnel being built in north India, officials announced on Friday. The tragedy unfolded late Thursday in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, where a team of workers was constructing a tunnel for a state-run hydropower project.

As of now, three workers remain unaccounted for, while 19 have been rescued from the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation site, according to the State Disaster Management Authority. Footage shared by local authorities depicted rescue personnel armed with headlamps using improvised rafts to reach the submerged portion of the tunnel.

Uttarakhand has been experiencing torrential monsoon rains in recent days. Construction accidents are not uncommon in India, but ecologists argue that excessive development projects have exacerbated disaster risks in the vulnerable Himalayan areas. Last month, 20 individuals lost their lives while working in a tunnel for another state-run hydroelectric project in the remote northeastern state of Sikkim.

In 2023, 41 workers were successfully rescued after being trapped for 17 days inside a tunnel that collapsed in Uttarakhand. Since the onset of the annual monsoon season in June, hundreds of lives have been lost in floods and landslides across the country. Climate change, along with ill-planned development, experts claim, is intensifying the frequency, severity, and impact of such disasters.