All 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand were rescued safely on Tuesday, November 28, after enduring a harrowing 17-day ordeal. The tunnel, a critical part of the Char Dham all-weather road project, collapsed on November 12, trapping 41 workers inside, which triggered a challenging rescue operation.

The breakthrough came as rescue workers drilled through the remaining 60-meter stretch of rubble, where the workers had been trapped for the past 16 days. The State government's information department chief, Bansi Dhar Tiwari, announced the completion of the drilling, followed by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirming the laying of the escape pipe into the drilled passage.

The meticulous rescue operation involved National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel entering the steel chute pushed into the drilled passage over several days to bring out the workers one by one. The process required each worker to lie on a wheeled stretcher, pulled outside by rescue workers using ropes.

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The rescue operation had encountered several challenges, including technical setbacks and the heavy-duty augur drilling machine getting stuck in the rubble. A shift to manual boring, aided by rat-hole mining experts wielding hand-held tools, became the strategy for the final 10 meters of excavation.

Twelve rat-hole mining experts were involved in the horizontal excavation through the last 10 or 12-metre stretch of debris of the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel since Monday. This drilling was earlier carried out by a huge auger machine that got stuck in the rubble on Friday at around 47 metres.

The relatives of the trapped labourers have been advised to prepare for the imminent evacuation, keeping the clothes and bags of the workers ready. Following the successful rescue, the workers are expected to be transported to Chinyalisaur Hospital. Ambulances and a medical team are on standby, ready to facilitate the swift transfer of the rescued workers to a community health centre.

First Published:Nov 28, 2023 8:09 PM IST