CM Dhami visits Uttarkashi tunnel collapse site; rescue efforts continue, workers safe

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday visited the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse site, where 40 workers are currently trapped after an under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway, partially collapsed a day back.

All the workers, who are trapped for more than 24 hours now, are safe. The work of removing the debris is going on continuously to rescue the workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel.

Heavy excavator machines have been mobilised to remove the debris. Oxygen is being supplied through the pipeline laid for supplying water in the tunnel. Through this pipeline, food packets are also being sent using a compressor.

Rescuers who worked overnight trying to prepare an escape passage for the labourers have managed to contact them on walkie-talkies and provided them with food and water, said Silkyara police control room.  

Stablising loose debris

Officials said attempts were being made to stabilise the constantly falling loose debris.

The director of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which is building the tunnel, Anshu Manish Khalko said loose debris hampering the rescue efforts was being stabilised using shotcrete – a process involving spraying concrete.

Rescue efforts by personnel from multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), have been going on since Sunday morning.

Khalko said, "All the trapped labourers are safe. They have been contacted several times on walkie-talkie and edibles and drinking water have been supplied to them.

District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela went inside the tunnel on Monday morning to review the rescue efforts and discuss the strategy to save the labourers.  Dhami was accompanied by Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey as he arrived in Silkyara to assess the situation.

Tunnel collapse

A nearly 30-metre stretch of the tunnel being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon has been affected by the cave-in that happened on Sunday morning. According to the District Emergency Operation Centre, the labourers trapped inside the tunnel are from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The officials are optimistic about the safety of the trapped labourers as enough oxygen was made available to them through a water pipeline.Rescuers who worked overnight to rescue around 40 workers trapped after an under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway that collapsed in Uttarkashi have established contact with them and provided them with food and water, officials said on Monday (November 13).

The workers are safe and have asked for food, which is being sent to them, the Silkyara police control room said, adding that communication has been established on walkie-talkies. Food packets have been supplied with the help of compressors, it said.

The rescuers are dredging and drilling through the debris inside the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon to prepare an escape passage for the trapped labourers, according to the district emergency operation centre.

A part of the tunnel collapsed on Sunday morning, leaving around 40 labourers trapped inside. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham all-weather road project.

According to the District Emergency Operation Centre, the labourers are from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.

Around 160 personnel of agencies such as the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are trying to rescue the trapped labourers.

Officials on Sunday were optimistic about the safety of the trapped labourers as enough oxygen was made available to them through a water pipeline.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday to inquire about the rescue efforts being carried out.

“We are removing the muck to measure how deep the point where they are trapped is. It does not seem too long. We hope to reach them soon. However, there are indications that they are safe as they appear to have released some water through an outlet,” Rajesh Panwar, the Navyuga Construction Company project manager, had said on Sunday.

Border Roads Organisation and Indo-Tibetan Border Police teams led by Commanding Officer Naman Narula and Assistant Commandant Jadhav Vaibhav were roped in later to assist the rescue efforts, officials said.

“What led to the incident, fixing responsibility, etc., will come later. Saving the lives of those trapped inside is our first priority,” Superintendent of Police (Uttarkashi) Arpan Yaduvanshi had said on Sunday.

The proposed tunnel, which is part of the Char Dham road project, will reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri by 26 km.

(With agency inputs)