LIGHT AT THE END OF TUNNEL All 41 workers trapped inside Silkyara tunnel rescued

Emotional moment for everyone, says PM 

PTI, UTTARKASHI, NOV 28, 2023 : Rescue workers pulled out all 41 workers trapped in Uttarakand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation that hovered between hope and despair over almost 17 days. 

Union minister V K Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami welcomed the workers as National Disaster Response Force men brought them out through a steel chute that lined a 60-metre escape passage. 

An ambulance with the first of the 41 workers left the mouth of the tunnel around 8 pm, about an hour after a group of rat-hole mining experts dug through the last stretch of rubble. There was hugging and cheers as the ordeal ended. 

Outside the tunnel some people chanted "Har Har Mahadev" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai" Ambulances which had lined up at the tunnel ferried the workers to a community health centre where a special 41-bed ward had been set up. Before this, the workers were given a quick medical checkup as they emerged out of the steel pipe. 

A portion of the tunnel collapsed on November 12, blocking the exit for the workers who were inside. Food, medicines and other essentials were sent to them through a six-inch pipe pushed through the rubble of the collapsed portion. Expressing satisfaction over the rescue of the trapped workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Success of rescue operation in Uttarkashi was an emotional moment for everyone. 

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said he is "relieved and happy" as all 41 trapped workers have been rescued from the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand."I am completely relieved and happy as 41 trapped laborers in the Silkyara Tunnel Collapse have been successfully rescued," Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari said in a post on X. 

"This was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years. Various departments and agencies complemented each other despite facing numerous challenges," Gadkari said. Less than an hour later, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the process of laying the escape pipe into the drilled passage was complete. 

"Soon all brother workers will be brought out," he posted on social media. NHIDCL managing director Mahmood Ahmed had not confirmed that the drilling work was over. He told reporters that the last section of the pipe was being pushed through. But at his 4 pm media briefing in Delhi, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata said the rescue workers were near a breakthrough. Ata said the rat-hole mining experts manually drilling through the last stretch had reached the 58-metre point, and there were about two more metres to go. But at the disaster site the mood was upbeat over the imminent end of the multi-agency rescue operation. 

As information about the "breakthrough" emerged at the site, some people outside chanted "Jai Shri Ram". Earlier, L&T team leader Chris Cooper predicted an early end to the workers' ordeal. "It is likely that they will be out before 5 pm," he told reporters. 

He said vertical drilling, the simultaneous drilling operation to reach the workers from above the tunnel, had now been called off. Officials decided to switch to manual boring to break through the last 10 metres of the rubble after the heavy-duty auger drilling machine got stuck in the rubble on Friday. Twelve rat-hole mining experts were called in to finish the last stretch of drilling using hand-held tools in a confined space.