Uttarakhand tunnel survivors airlifted to AIIMS-Rishikesh for check-up

PTI, Uttarkashi, Nov 29, 2023 :  Workers rescued from the Silkyara tunnel were airlifted to AIIMS-Rishikesh for a health check-up on Wednesday, officials said. 

Forty-one workers were rescued from the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi after a gruelling 17-day operation that culminated on Tuesday evening. 

The workers were kept under medical observation at a hospital in Chinyalisaur after their evacuation. 

An official at AIIMS-Rishikesh said the workers will first be taken to the trauma ward of the hospital from where they will be shifted to the disaster ward for a detailed examination of their health parameters. 

All arrangements are ready at the facility to tend to the evacuated workers, he said. Relatives of the workers are also being brought to Rishikesh in buses. 

Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the rescued workers and kept under medical observation at a hospital in Chinyalisaur and handed over Rs 1 lakh to each of them. 

Dhami also spoke to their family members waiting outside the hospital. They thanked him for safely evacuating the trapped workers after almost 17 days. 

In the hospital, Dhami went from bed to bed speaking to each one of the rescued workers and handing over cheques to them. 

The Chief Minister also announced Rs 50,000 reward for each of the rat- hole mining experts who took part in the rescue operation. 

"I am no less happy about their (workers) evacuation than their families. My Diwali, Igas or Dev Deepavali came yesterday as they were evacuated," the Uttarakhand chief minister told PTI earlier. Dhami said the workers were like his family. "After all they work for us...for the country." 

Dhami thanked the local deity Baba Baukhnag, the multiple agencies involved in the huge operation that lasted 17 days, national and international experts and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his constant support and guidance for the successful completion of the challenging task. 

"I have faced several challenges during my tenures as Chief Minister but this one was the toughest," he said. Talking about the various hitches and hurdles that hampered the rescue efforts, he said the prime minister's daily monitoring and support in providing all help needed in terms of the big machines gave him great strength. 

Praising the trapped workers for showing exemplary patience, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister said assurance from them that they were alright and ready to wait while the rescue agencies did their work also strengthened his resolve to have them evacuated safely. Dhami reiterated the state government has decided to review all tunnel projects. 

"There are several such projects underway in the state. We have decided to have them reviewed. We need development but there should be a balance between ecology and economy," the Chief Minister said. The 4.5 kilometres long Silkyara tunnel project, which is part of the Centre's strategic 900-km 'Char DhamYatra All Weather Road', will continue after the necessary safety audit and repair of the broken structure, a senior road ministry official said on Wednesday. 

The ambitious Rs 12,000-crore project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath -- in Uttarakhand. 

"In fact, the safety audit of the Silkyara tunnel will be conducted. Meanwhile, efforts will be made to repair and rectify the broken structure. 

"The necessary precautions will be taken and the 4.5 km long tunnel project will continue," the official who was part of the rescue team told news agency PTI. 

Speaking to newspersons, project head of Zojila Tunnel Harpal Singh said there could be several possible reasons for the collapse of the Silkyara tunnel. 

"These could be poor geological investigation, under-designed ground support systems, mistakes during construction, poor data monitoring and mitigation measures during construction or poor supervision control," he explained. 

Singh was of the view that "all highway and rail tunnels should be planned with an escape tunnel parallel to the main tunnel". 

The strategic Zojila tunnel an all-weather link between the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region -- is being constructed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL). In 2021, in an interview with PTI, Union road transport and highways minister NitinGadkari had termed allegations that the Char Dham road project triggered landslides in Uttarakhand as 'misinformation' and asserted that the government is sensitive about ecology and environment while carrying out development projects. 

Gadkari had pointed out that now, the hilly terrains have been secured with the construction of a tunnel (beneath Chamba town). 

A 2019 report headed by veteran environmentalist Ravi Chopra described the Char Dham project -- an ongoing road project that will connect the four important pilgrim towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri -- as "an assault on the Himalayas". 

The committee recommended limiting the width of the road to 5.5 metres on the Char Dham project. However, in December 2021, the Supreme Court in its order allowed the road width to 10 metres. The Supreme Court allowed double-lane widening of the Char Dham highway project in Uttarakhand, observing that the country's security concerns may change over time and the recent past has thrown serious national security challenges. 

The judgment clearing the way for a double-lane paved shoulder (DL-PS) configuration for the project had come in the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese militaries in several areas along the LAC (line of actual control) in Ladakh. 

"The considerations for development of national highways in plains and in hilly and mountainous regions are not identical," it had noted.