At least 39 labourers from different districts of Uttar Pradesh were among those reported missing after Sunday's glacier disaster in Utarakhand's Chamoli district.
So far, family members of 22 labourers, who were working at the hydropower projects on Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers, had contacted the district administration in Lakhimpur Kheri and informed it that they had not been able to contact them since the tragedy.
According to sources, this number was expected to go up as the rescue operations were still on in the affected areas of the hill state.
Three labourers from Saharanpur, four from Meerut and five from Gorakhpur divisions were also said to be missing following the tragedy. Besides, one labourer each from Shamli, Moradabad and Chandauli districts were reportedly missing, sources said.
Sources said that one of the labourers, who worked at the Tapovan power project and survived the disaster, called his family members in Lakhimpur Kheri and informed them that many workers were either swept away in the flood or were trapped in the tunnel.
The family members of the missing workers said that their efforts to speak to them proved unsuccessful. Those missing also included two brothers.
The district officials said that they had no information about the missing people. ''We are in touch with the authorities in Chamoli and Dehradun... The actual situation will become clear only after the rescue operations are over,'' said a district official in Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday.
He, however, said that the administration was preparing the list of people from the district, who were reported to be missing.
The glacial burst damaged two hydropower projects on Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers and caused massive flooding in the rivers downstream. About 140 workers at the two projects were reported to be missing.
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