DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ■ 150 MISSING, 7 BODIES RECOVERED ■ CHAMOLI DISTRICT IS GROUND ZERO ■ CONSTANTLY MONITORING: PM Uttarakhandfloodwreaksdeath,damage Most of those missing in glacial breach are labourers at power project, say officials BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY THE WORLD LALMANI VERMA & DEEPTIMAN TIWARY DEHRADUN, NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 Rescue operations near Dhauliganga hydropower project, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, on Sunday; ITBP personnel rescued a worker trapped in a tunnel at Tapovan. ANI, ITBP According to the Chief Minister, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister NarendraModiandUnionHome MinisterAmitShahspoketohim about the incident. The Chief Ministers of UP, Gujarat and Bihar have assured help, Rawat said. Local officials cited preliminary reports to attribute the floods to a “glacier break” near Joshimath in the district. But scientists are ascertaining the possibility of a breach in a glacial lake — a phenomenon known as glacial lake outburst flood — probablycausedbyanavalanche CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ITBP DG: HOPEFUL WE WILL RESCUE THOSE TRAPPED IN TUNNEL P7 Glacial lake burst or avalanche? Scientists to leave for spot today Vishnuprayag AMITABH SINHA Joshimath PUNE, FEBRUARY 7 E A GLACIAL lake burst, a cloud burst or an avalanche, the ● impact of climate change or “development” — scientists are not sure what triggered the sudden surge of water near Chamoli in Uttarakhand Sunday morning that briefly raised fears of a repeat of the 2013 disaster in the state. EXPLAINED CLOSE TO 150 people were reported missing with seven bodies recovered, and two hydro power projects and a key bridge severely damaged, by a flood likely set off by a glacial breach that surged through the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district Sunday morning, officials said. Among those missing are labourers at the project sites, over 30 staff members and two police personnel, they said. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said over 35 people weretrappedinatunnelblocked by debrisat anNTPC project that is under construction in the Tapovan area, five km downstream of Rishiganga. A joint team of ITBP and the Army are engaged in rescue at the tunnel, sources said. ITBP personnel rescued 12 labourers from another tunnel near Tapovan. Rawat said that a motorable bridge and four other small bridges were damaged, cutting access by road to over 11 villages in the area. Helicopters of the Army, IAF and private operators have been engaged to ensure suppliestothesevillages,hesaid. Alaknanda River Khanchamala DhauligangaRiver Dehradun U T TA R A K H A N D By evening, the prospect of largescale flooding and destruction had receded. And, as scientistsprepared totravel to the site in the high mountains north of ‘PLANNING ON TO SEE HOW TO SPOIL COUNTRY’S REPUTATION’ International conspiracy to defame India, PM alleges in Bengal, Assam ABHISHEK SAHA & SANTANU CHOWDHURY GUWAHATI, HALDIA, FEBRUARY 7 PM at a rally in Haldia, West Bengal, Sunday. Partha Paul Suicide at Tikri: Note blames govt ASHNA BUTANI & SAKSHI DAYAL NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 WITH THE farmers' agitation againsttheCentre'snewagriculture laws in its third month with no sign of a solution, a 52-yearold farmer from Haryana's Jind, whowasamongprotestersatthe Tikri border to Delhi, was found dead near his tent early Sunday morning.Policesaidtheysuspect it to be a case of suicide. According to police, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN TWO speeches in electionbound Assam and West Bengal on Sunday, Prime Minister NarendraModiallegedtherewas an “international conspiracy” to “defame India and spoil its image”,andthattheseconspirators were targeting tea garden work- ers and denigrating yoga. “You would have seen in the news, the kind of international conspiracies that are coming to light these days. Ab toh iss baat ki planning ki ja rahi hai ki kaise Bharat ko badnaam karna hai, kaiseBharatkichhavikobigaadna hai,” the Prime Minister said at a meeting of party workers in Haldia in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district. “...Bharat ko badnaam karne keliyewochaisejudiBharatkipe- hchaan par hamla karne ki baat kar rahe hain. Tea workers ki kadi mehnat par hamla karne ka shadyantra kiya ja raha hai. Yog jaisi Bharat ki virasat...par hamla kiya jaa raha hai. (To defame India,thereare attacksonIndia's identity linked with tea; there is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM TO REPLY TO MOTION OF THANKS TODAY PAGE 6 Ensure democracy norms: US Congress members tell India SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 FORTHEfirsttimesincethefarmers’ protests began late last year, top US Congress members in the India Caucus have asked the Indiangovernmenttoensurethat norms of democracy are maintained and the protesters are allowedtodemonstratepeacefully with access to the Internet. USDemocraticCongressman Brad Sherman, Co-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus, said thatheconvenedameetingwith his Republican Co-Chair, Congressman Steve Chabot, and Vice-Chair Congressman Ro Khanna to speak with India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, regarding farmers' demonstrations in India. This was the first meeting of theIndiaCaucus,thelargestcountry-specificcaucusintheUSHouse of Representatives,ontheissue. “I urged the Indian CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Debate in House ensures different views… Why not let that happen?... Must allow process of scrutiny’ MOHAMMAD HAMID ANSARI FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA PAGE 12 Like mother, like daughter: Family of record holders aims higher and higher PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANDREW AMSAN NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 TO 15-year-old high jumper Pavana Nagaraj, stadiums are secondhome.Sincethetimeshe was four, she has accompanied her parents, both former national-levelathletes,totoptrackand-field meets around the country, and has seen them Pavana with her parents break records. On Saturday, the 5-foot 8inch teenager continued the family tradition, rewriting the under-16 national high jump record at the junior nationals in Guwahati by clearing the bar at 1.73 metres. Backin2012,Pavana'smother Sahana Kumari had jumped 1.92 m,arecordthatnoIndianwoman hasbrokentilldate.HerfatherBG Nagaraj has been an acclaimed sprinter — he was crowned the fastestmaninIndiain2010,when hewonthe100msprintattheinter-state meet. His best has been 10.50 seconds, recorded at the Asian Games trials. AFFECTED AREA: CHAMOLI DISTRICT Speaking to The Indian Express, Pavana says she loved going to the track with her parents.“Iwouldfeelreallyupseton the days that my mother left me at home. So, on most days she took me along. It is due to my parents' hard work that I have reached this far,” she says – only to break into a laugh and add, “Not that I don’t work hard... Sportsismyinterestandpassion and I have huge dreams.” Her father, Nagaraj, says the joy of seeing his daughter set the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Raini Rishiganga Chamoli Chamolitoascertainthecauseof the incident, the scenario being most talked about was what glaciologists like to call a GLOF, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In terrain dotted with hydro projects, flood hits several PRABHA RAGHAVAN & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 AT LEAST two under-construction hydro power projects in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district were severely impacted by Sunday's flash flood, with fatalities reported among personnel deployed at these sites. Several other projects on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins in northwestern Uttarakhand have also been impacted by the flood. Seven bodies had been recoveredbylateevening,andover 150 workers were reported missing. Around a dozen workers at the two sites on the upper reaches of the Dhauliganga river had been rescued. Theflooding,whichoccurred in the vicinity of Joshimath, swept away the barrage used to divertwateratNTPCLtd’sunderconstruction 520 MW-capacity Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower project on the Dhauliganga, it is learnt. Sources said that while the civilstructuresurvivedtheflood, at least a couple of gates of the spillway have been swept away. A boring machine was stuck CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PROTESTS AGAINST COUP SWEEP MYANMAR US MUST LIFT SANCTIONS: IRAN PAGE 13 INSIDE AFTER LATE-NIGHT RELEASE, FARUQUI SAYS: HAVE FAITH IN JUDICIARY PAGE 10