NEW DELHI: Forty-one Indian construction workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel were brought to safety on Tuesday after 17 days and multiple setbacks during the rescue operation.
“This was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years. Various departments and agencies complemented each other despite facing numerous challenges,” India’s Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
The workers were stuck more than 200 metres from the entrance when a part of the 4.5-km Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand state’s Uttarkashi district caved in on Nov 12.
The rescuers encountered many difficulties, including equipment breakdown, while drilling with heavy machines to reach the trapped men.
The workers received food, water, oxygen and medicines via a narrow pipe during the ordeal.
They finally emerged one by one on a wheeled stretcher through a 90-cm evacuation pipe that was pushed through the collapsed tunnel’s debris.
The last several metres of the roughly 60-metre drilling was done manually by “rat-hole” miners.
The families of workers, local residents, rescuers and officials present at the site cheered the successful rescue.
“It is a big day for us. All the workers have finally been rescued successfully,” one rescuer said.
Some people set off firecrackers and distributed sweets in celebration.
The workers appeared healthy but were taken to a hospital in ambulances for a medical check-up.
Politicians and officials issued congratulatory messages.
“I congratulate the teams and all experts who have acted with incredible grit and determination to perform one of the most difficult rescue missions in history,” President Droupadi Murmu said.
It was a harrowing wait for the men’s family members.
“My son had gone to work in Uttarakhand without informing us. When he comes back, we will make sure that he never goes out again,” Charku Bedia of Jharkhand state told the local media.
The tunnel, located in an ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, is part of a highway project to reduce travel distance between the Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand.
The estimated cost of the entire 890-km Char Dham road project is US$1.5 billion.
The tunnel workers hailed from various states, including Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. – BERNAMA
