All 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand for the last 16 days were rescued safely on Tuesday. Officials said that the workers were taken out one by one through 800 mm pipes which were drilled in the debris and inserted inside. The path was made.
On the 17th day, rescue workers who were carrying out operations on a war footing to rescue workers trapped in the four and a half kilometer long Silkyara-Barkot tunnel under construction on the Chardham Yatra route collapsed on November 12. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways General (Retd) VK Singh were also present during the evacuation of the workers.
The Chief Minister hugged the workers coming out and talked to them. He also praised the courage of the people engaged in rescue work. After the workers were taken out, they were taken to the hospital built at Chinyalisaur Community Health Center, 30 kilometers away from Silkyara, through an ambulance parked outside the tunnel.
Expressing happiness on this occasion, the Chief Minister said that the happiness on the faces of the workers and their families is their ‘Egas and Bagwal’ (Diwali celebrated in the hilly areas ten days after Diwali). He attributed the success of the operation to the promptness of the rescue team, technical help, the vitality of the workers trapped inside, the moment-to-moment monitoring by the Prime Minister and the grace of the Boukhnag deity.
The Chief Minister also ordered the officials to provide good medical facilities to the workers if necessary. He said that he expresses his heartfelt gratitude to each and every member associated with the rescue operation who acted as angels and made this operation successful.
There were many obstacles in the rescue operation but ultimately success was achieved. JCB was first deployed to remove the debris in the tunnel but it was not successful due to debris falling from above, after which an American auger machine was ordered and drilling in the debris was started.
However, after drilling 47 meters inside the debris, parts of the auger machine got stuck inside the debris and the rescue operation was hampered. The parts of the machine were cut and separated by ordering a plasma cutter from Hyderabad and after that, hand drilling was started with the help of ‘rat hole mining’ technique on Monday, after which on Tuesday, success was achieved in passing the pipe through the debris.
Many organizations including NDRF, SDRF, BRO, RVNL, SJVNL, ONGC, ITBP, NHAIDCL, THDC, Uttarakhand Government, District Administration, Army, Air Force played an important role in the rescue operation.
During this, along with science, faith was also used. The villagers and families of workers around Silkyara prayed to God for the safe release of their loved ones. Along with this, Chief Minister Dhami, Union Minister Singh and President of ‘International Tunneling and Underground Space Association’ Arnold Dix, who was called to cooperate in the rescue operations, also bowed their heads at the local deity Boukhnag temple outside the tunnel and prayed to God for the safe evacuation of the workers. Asked for blessings from.