Building activity for dams and dredging riverbeds for sand and the clearing of trees for new roads -- some to beef up defence on the Chinese border -- are other factors.
On Tuesday the focus was attempting to locate and extract 34 workers who rescuers hoped were still alive in air pockets in a tunnel system filled with icy water and debris."We are trying to clear the slush inside the tunnel but it has been difficult," said rescue official PK Tiwari.Nearby, workers used heavy machinery to remove giant boulders from the road blocking the way to the second power plant where 35 people were missing.
Shopkeeper Ramesh Negi was enjoying the Sunday morning sun when he heard a loud roar and saw a huge wall of water smash into and sweep away a bridge. "It felt like the mountain was crashing and the Earth was moving," Mangra told AFP outside the tunnel, cuts and scrapes on his hands and legs.Twenty-five of the 32 bodies recovered were yet to be identified, officials said. Many of the victims are thought to be poor workers from hundreds of miles away in other parts of India.