Uttarkashi, 28 November. Success has been achieved in safely evacuating 41 laborers trapped inside the Silkyara Tunnel of Uttarkashi since 5:30 am on 12th November. Tuesday was the 17th day of the rescue operation. Everyone was expecting that now the workers trapped inside the tunnel would be taken out and as expected, the process of taking out the workers started from around 8 pm on Tuesday night.
There was a smile on the faces of everyone engaged in the rescue operation. Everyone looked happy. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami himself was also present on the spot and hugged the workers who were coming out safely.
In fact, 41 laborers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel accident finally succeeded in coming out after waiting for 17 days. All 41 laborers have been evacuated safely after 17 days. From the families of the workers standing outside the tunnel to the people around, it seemed as if it was a night of celebration. People were seen dancing and dancing. Many local people were also seen distributing sweets.
A major accident took place in the Silkyara Tunnel at 5:30 am on November 12, in which 41 workers were trapped inside the tunnel. To rescue them, 200 employees along with all the central and state agencies, National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, BRO and National Highway teams were engaged in the rescue operation 24 hours.
The team of international tunneling expert Arnold Dix was also leading this rescue operation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also continuously taking updates from the Chief Minister on this rescue operation. The Chief Minister also made his mini secretariat there. All the work was done from here. Union Minister VK Singh was also present on the spot. Everyone kept taking stock of the rescue operation every day. A five-member team also came from the PMO and took over the responsibility of the rescue operation.
Indian Army and Indian Air Force also contributed in this big and difficult rescue operation. There were many obstacles and problems in this operation. On November 21, a 56 meter pipe passed through the tunnel. From there, cameras were sent to the workers, due to which the first video of the workers came in front of the country. After that, food, medicines and other essential items were delivered to the workers trapped inside the tunnel through this pipe.
American heavy auger machine was also called. But, after drilling 47 meters the machine also failed. After that vertical drilling work was started from the top of the mountain. Drilling up to 36 meters was done. When the auger machine failed after drilling 47 meters inside the tunnel, all hopes rested on the rat miners. After that the army took charge and rat miners did manual digging. Breakthrough was found after digging 57 meters and finally a major success was achieved in evacuating 41 laborers trapped in the tunnel for 17 days.
