Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Even as multi-agency operations are going on to rescue the workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel, the Uttarakhand government officials said on Monday that all the 40 trapped workers are safe and communication has been established with them.
The state government shred the good news with the media persons as the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the site to oversee rescue operations. Rescuers who worked overnight trying to prepare an escape passage for the labourers have provided them with food and water besides maintaining oxygen supply inside the collapsed portion, the Silkyara police control room said. The workers have been trapped for more than 40 hours.
A portion of the tunnel being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway caved in on Sunday morning. The rescue operations are being conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) and the police.
A senior official said all the 40 workers were safe and were being supplied food and oxygen through water pipelines. “Everyone is safe, we are in constant touch with the trapped workers,” said Prashant Kumar, Circle Officer, Uttarkashi. Mr Kumar said communication has been established with the trapped workers and they have been sent water and food items.
He said 20 metres of the slab has been removed so far to open the tunnel and prepare an escape passage for the workers, and around 35 metres are still to be covered. “The team is removing the debris using excavators and other heavy machines,” Mr Kumar said.
Photographs and videos showed huge piles of concrete blocking the wide tunnel, with twisted metal bars on its broken roof poking down in front of the rubble. The tunnel is meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi. It is being built under the Char Dham Road Project and aims to reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 kilometres.
According to a list of the trapped workers issued by the District Emergency Operation Centre, 15 are from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five from Orissa, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam and one from Himachal Pradesh.
Talking to reporters after inspecting the site, Mr Dhami said all efforts were being made for the safe rescue of all those trapped in the debris. “Safely rescuing the trapped workers is our priority. The rescue operation is being carried out expeditiously. I want to assure the families of the trapped labourers that they will be rescued soon,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Centre and his government were working together to rescue the trapped labourers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav have taken a detailed update on the rescue operations and assured of all possible help, he added.
The officials, meanwhile, said attempts were also being made to stabilise the constantly falling loose debris inside the tunnel. A nearly 30-metre stretch of the tunnel, being built by the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), has been affected by the cave-in.
NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalko said loose debris hampering the rescue efforts was being stabilised using shot Crete – a process involving spraying concrete. Rescue efforts by personnel from multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), have been going on since Sunday morning.
District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela went inside the tunnel on Monday morning to review the rescue efforts and discuss the strategy to save the labourers. The officials are optimistic about the safety of the trapped labourers as enough oxygen was made available to them through a water pipeline.
