Uttarkashi: Anxiety gave way to cheer Tuesday as the 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi were rescued, 17 days after they got stuck in the under-construction structure following a landslide. All were given preliminary medical care as soon as they emerged from the tunnel.
The gruelling rescue mission that hit quite a few snags on account of the complex and fragile terrain was carried to its end by rat-hole miners who burrowed through 12-15 metres of rubble and laid an evacuation pipe for the trapped workers. The rat-hole miners started work late Monday evening.
Earlier, an American auger machine had cleared approximately 45 metres of the 57-60-metre path of debris blocking the workers before breaking down.
To clear the path, rat-hole miners drilled through the rubble, and the debris generated was manually pulled out using ropes.
The workers had been trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel since 12 November.
As the rescue looked imminent, preparations were made outside the tunnel to bring the workers out.
A temporary road was prepared, and scores of ambulances stationed at the site for immediate medical assistance. Personnel of the state and National Disaster Response Force wheeled in stretchers to the point where the workers were to emerge, and beds kept ready at the district hospital.
The workers will be kept under observation at the district hospital for 24 hours, and if anyone is found to be deeply unwell, they will be shifted to AIIMS Rishikesh.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union MoS for Road Transport and Highways General V.K. Singh (Retd), who have been overseeing the rescue operation, were also present at the site.
Earlier Tuesday, international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who assisted in the rescue operation, told ThePrint that work was “going on in full swing, and I am totally confident today”.
As he performed puja at the makeshift temple erected at the site, villagers passing by chanted “Jai Bholenath” in collective prayer for the safe retrieval of the workers.
The multi-pronged rescue operation — which explored multiple ways to safely extract the workers — involved a total of 13 agencies of the central and state governments.
These included the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), power companies SJVN and THDC, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which was implementing the tunnelling project.
Foreign experts were engaged as well.
The families of the workers, meanwhile, have been at the site constantly, in camps set up for them, and have been made to communicate with the workers.
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17-day ordeal
Audio-visual contact with the workers was first established on 20 November with a camera sent inside through a 6-inch pipe. Cooked meals were sent to the labourers through the same pipe on 21 November, nine days after the collapse. The workers had in the preceding period sustained themselves on dry-fruits.
Through their time inside, the workers were made to talk to doctors and even psychiatrists, to ensure their mental health didn’t take too much of a hit in the dark interiors of the tunnel.
Fervent prayers were made at the temple at the site for the return of the workers, with the local residents even performing a havan Monday. A formation resulting from water seepage at the entrance of the tunnel was termed by people an apparition of the Hindu deity Shiva.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: ‘Trapped Uttarkashi workers could be evacuated in 3 hours’ — cautious hope as rescuers reach closer