‘Licked water dripping from rocks, survived on muri’: Silkyara workers recount ordeal

The 41 workers who were rescued from Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation kept their spirits up while trapped inside by taking morning walks and practising yoga, a rescued worker told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The workers hailed Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, and the rescue teams for their efforts, with one of them saying they had nothing to worry about because if the government could save Indians abroad, they were within the country.

‘We were like brothers’

Modi had a telephonic conversation with the rescued workers late on Tuesday night (November 28). A worker from Bihar, Saba Ahmed, told the prime minister that though they were stuck in the tunnel for days, they did not feel any fear or nervousness.

“We were like brothers, we were together. We used to take a stroll in the tunnel after dinner. I used to tell them to do morning walks and yoga. We would like to thank the Uttarakhand government, especially the CM, and (MoS) VK (Singh) sahib,” Ahmed said.

The workers used to take morning walks in an over 2 km stretch of the tunnel they were trapped in, said Ahmed.

‘Survived on puffed rice, water from rocks for the first 10 days’

22-year-old Anil Bediya from Jharkhand said they survived the ordeal by eating 'muri' (puffed rice) and licking water dripping from rocks.

"Loud shrieks punctuated the air...We all thought we would be buried inside the tunnel and had lost all hope during the first couple of days," Bediya told PTI on Wednesday morning (November 29) over the phone from the Uttarakhand hospital where he is recuperating.

"It was a nightmarish ordeal...we licked water dripping from rocks to quench our thirst and survived on muri for the first 10 days," he said.

Bediya hails from Khirabeda, a village on the outskirts of Ranchi which saw a total of 13 people going to Uttarkashi on November 1 in search of greener pastures.

Little did they know what fate had in store for them.

Luckily, only three of the 13 from Khirabeda were inside the tunnel when the disaster struck. Fifteen of the 41 workers hail from Jharkahnd's Ranchi, Giridih, Khunti and West Singhbhum, where people have erupted in joy after the trapped workers were rescued on Tuesday evening (November 28).

Rise in morale after first contact with outside world

"Our first hope of survival kindled when the authorities established contact with us after nearly 70 hours," Bediya recounted.

According to him, two of their supervisors asked them to drink water dripping through the rocks.

"We had no other option but to relieve ourselves inside the tunnel. Finally, when we heard voices of people communicating with us from outside, a firm belief and hope of survival replaced our desperation," Bediya said.

After the first 10 days of gruelling anxiety, supplies, including fruits like bananas, apples and oranges, besides hot meals like rice, dal and chapatis became regular along with water bottles, he said.

‘We used to pray desperately for early rescue’

"Huddled together, we used to pray desperately for an early rescue...finally God heard us," said Bediya.

His anxiety-stricken mother had not cooked food for the last two weeks, and the family survived on whatever their neighbours provided them with, a resident of the village said.

In Khirabeda, a paralysed Shravan Bediya, 55, whose only son Rajendra was trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel, was seen celebrating in a wheelchair after the workers were rescued on Tuesday evening.

Besides 22-year-old Rajendra, two others from the village — Sukhram and Anil, both in their early 20s — were trapped inside the tunnel for 17 days.

Sukhram's paralysed mother Parvati, who was inconsolable since she found out about the disaster, was too happy to express her feelings.

‘We never lost hope’

"We never lost hope," another worker, Vishal, told PTI.

Soon after being rescued, Vishal, a resident of Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, met his family members outside the tunnel and was then taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

Talking to PTI over the phone, Vishal said, "We never lost hope... I am absolutely fine. All of us are fine and I am thankful to everyone for evacuating us safely."

On being asked how he survived the ordeal, he said, "The initial few hours were difficult because we felt suffocated. But soon after, contact was made with people outside and everything slowly became normal."

Vishwajeet Kumar Verma said he is happy now after being rescued and will celebrate Diwali now. 

One of the rescued workers shared a video of all of them at the Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre after they were rescued. 

A portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed on November 12, blocking the exit of the workers who were inside. Food, medicines and other essentials were sent to them through a six-inch pipe pushed through the debris.

All the 41 workers rescued from the tunnel were kept under observation at a hospital in Chinyalisaur. They were taken to AIIMS-Rishikesh on Wednesday. They will be allowed to go home after that.

Relief was felt far and wide over the safe evacuation.

(With agency inputs)