Uttarkashi: A sudden quiet had descended around the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi Wednesday. A day before, on Tuesday evening, 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel for 17 days, were finally rescued.
The frenzied rescue work of the past few days had given way to a routine lull when ThePrint visited the area around 10.30 am Wednesday.
Shop owners, workers and others in the area are jubilant at the successful rescue of the 41 who had been trapped, but the lull following the past few days’ of heightened activity has brought with it a sudden gloominess.
A handful of vehicles, a few stragglers and some policemen were all that remained of the teeming media crew and rescue workers — from 13 agencies of the central and state governments — who had been camping at the spot since a part of the under-construction tunnel collapsed on 12 November, trapping the workers inside.
The 400-hour rescue operation saw many technological setbacks since it was launched, including breakdown of the augur machines which were brought in to drill a hole through the tunnel debris, to pull out the workers. The final successful rescue of the 41, has been hailed as a “miracle” by some.
On Wednesday, a makeshift temple that had been set up at the mouth of the temple to placate a local deity and pray for the workers’ speedy rescue, stood devoid the buzz of the past few days. At a press conference Tuesday, following the workers’ safe rescue, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the state government would help build a permanent temple in the area.
The Silkyara Tunnel (or the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel) is part of the central government’s ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project. Being built at an estimated cost of around Rs 12,000 crore, it aims to reduce the distance from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri by approximately 25 kilometres.
Talking to ThePrint a day after the completion of the rescue operation, Rahul Rawat, who runs a tea stall near the mouth of the tunnel said, “There were so many people for so many days, the work was so much fun, we were not able to sleep properly even for four-five hours. We were sad for the workers, but it was good to meet new people,” he told ThePrint.
Now, with the workers rescued and winter descending on the Uttarkashi spot, Rawat is preparing for duller days ahead.
A constable posted in the area, said on condition of anonymity that where there had been activity before, there was now “empty silence”. “It was nice to see the media and people here and there working,” he added.
Near the tunnel, dressed in their orange uniform, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel Sachin Choudhary and Pradeep Yadav prepare to leave. The two men, who are a part of the NDRF’s 15th Battalion and who were among those dispatched into the tunnel to help rescue the trapped workers, were surrounded by a small group of admirers, all thanking them for their services, when ThePrint caught up with them.
The two were among over 150 NDRF personnel called to the area after the tunnel collapsed.
Choudhary, from Rajasthan’s Alwar district, recalled the moment he met the trapped workers inside the tunnel as an emotional one.
“That moment felt like a reunion with long-lost friends. Tears welled up in our eyes,” he told ThePrint. “The workers, whom the entire nation had fervently prayed for, had successfully come out and we had the privilege of being the primary witnesses to that remarkable moment.”
‘Significant challenge’
For both Choudhary and Yadav, the past 17 days had been an ordeal, but also served as a learning experience. Both had earlier been a part of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force, but are on deputation with the NDRF. Their battalion is stationed at Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district.
“We were ready for any circumstance throughout the rescue,” Yadav, a resident of Shamli in Uttar Pradesh, told ThePrint.
Choudhary added: “Despite the emotional challenges, the joy of witnessing all of them safe was unparalleled”.
It was around 8:30 am on 12 November — the morning of Diwali — that the call came for them to leave for Uttarkashi, Choudhary told ThePrint.
“As soon as the call came in at 8:30, the team promptly mobilised. We all rushed there and remained engaged in the mission until the very last day,” he said.
On Monday, rat miners had been brought in to drill through a narrow pipe and pull out the trapped workers.
Once the rat miners emerged from the end of a long pipe pushed through the debris, the NDRF knew what to do — a six-member team, including Choudhary and Yadav, was swiftly dispatched into the pipe for inspection to help bring the workers out.
“To ensure the safety of the workers, we equipped them with the necessary safety gear. The evacuation process unfolded smoothly and was completed around 8:30. It didn’t take long to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” Yadav told ThePrint.
Had they anticipated the scale of the challenge when first deputed to the task?
No, said Yadav. “On the first day, the company [Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, which is building the tunnel on behalf of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited] attempted to open the pipe using an auger [machine], but it became twisted from the front,” he said. “What we initially thought to be a routine task then turned out to be a significant challenge.”
‘Duller days ahead’
According to Keshav (identified by a single name only), the area will now be bereft. A worker from Bihar, Keshav has been living near the under-construction tunnel since 2020.
“Our friends have come out, nothing could make us happier, but we have never seen so many people here before. But now, this [feeling of] emptiness will last for a long time,” he told ThePrint.
Rahul Rawat, quoted above, agreed. There will be darkness near the tunnel now, he said.
“You people will also return to your work and we will wait for ours,” he told ThePrint.
The constable quoted earlier described the parting more poetically: “Madame, now you people are going, the workers are also going to their homes. But the snow is about to fall [Uttarkashi sees heavy snowfall in winter] and its whiteness can be seen from a long distance” — suggesting perhaps that the glimpse of the snow-capped mountains would serve to remind those who were leaving the area of the days they had spent there.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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