New Delhi: After almost 150 hours of Uttarakhand tunnel collapse, the rescue teams continue to struggle and are yet to make any headway in saving the lives of more than dozens of workers trapped inside the rubble.
As the tunnel collapse entered 7th day without any tangible success, relatives & families of those trapped inside the tunnel have started arriving at the mishap site.
Today, a couple of them also spoke to the stranded workers inside the tunnel, however, this didn’t generate enough confidence. Speaking to the press, they vented their anger & frustration against the construction company as well government. A couple of them hit out the tunnel builder for being ‘uncommunicative & unresponsive’ on the workers safety.
Notably, the under-construction tunnel collapsed on Sunday morning (February 12) with 41 labourers inside it. To make matters worse, the rescue operations got halted yesterday after US-made auger machine developed a snap. The Indian Air Force today airlifted another heavy-duty machine from Indore to speed up the drilling work.
For the uninitiated, the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in early hours of November 12 (the day when nation celebrated Diwali). The 4.5 km Silkyara tunnel is part of the Chardham project, aimed at giving impetus to mobility & transport in the hilly state. The tunnel would connect Gangotri & Yamunotri, 2 of most holy places.
The tunnel is being constructed by Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd., at a cost of Rs 853.79 crore.
Victim’s kins anxious & worried
The family members of trapped workers, mostly from Uttar Pradesh & Bihar, speaking to newsmen said that they were losing hope and family members back home are getting increasingly anxious over their fate.
These workers have been trapped inside the tunnel without food & basic essentials, since November 12 when a portion of the tunnel caved in.
#WATCH | Uttarakhand: Uttarkashi tunnel rescue | Morning visuals from the spot; relief and rescue work halted at Silkyara Tunnel
Speaking to ANI Anshu Manish Khulko, Director of the tunnel-making company NHIDCL, said that at present the drilling work in the tunnel has stopped.… pic.twitter.com/ZhNAsdAtRX
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2023
‘Lifeline pipes’ have been helpful in sending food & water to trapped workers and state administration has also made arrangements for temporary accommodation of victim’s families, however, the latter’s woes are yet to subside.
Brother of one of the trapped workers urged the agencies to rescue them before their health deteriorates.
“We are only getting are assurances from authorities that the trapped labourers will be rescued. It has been nearly a week. There is no work going on inside the tunnel. Neither the company nor the government is doing anything. The company says a machine is on the way,” Haridwar Sharma told newsmen, whose brother Sushil hailing from Bihar’s Rohtas district is trapped inside.
A couple of them blasted the company for being unresponsive & uncommunicative despite the life of their loved ones in peril.
They blamed the construction firm i.e. Navayuga Engineering & its general manager for the mishap and also accused them of ‘experimenting’ with different rescue methods rather than actually lifting them out.
Chaudhary Lal, father of another trapped worker named Manjeet Lal, has been waiting for his rescue. Chaudhary Lal lost his elder son just a year ago at a Mumbai construction site. He is deeply worried & tensed over the fate of his younger son now though, a small conversation with his stranded son brought him some relief.
“My other son was 36 when he was electrocuted while working at the site of a high-rise building in Mumbai. I can’t bear the thought of losing my only other child,” he said.
As per latest updates, the rescue work will begin again after the arrival of heavy-duty drilling machine from Indore. NHIDCL, company tasked with tunnel formation, has sent its top officials & experts to the location to defuse the crisis. NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khulko also said that the operation was suspended for now but refused to admit that previous machine developed a snag.
Calls for erecting ‘Baukh Nag temple’ near tunnel
While the drilling & evacuation work suffers setback, some local priests called it an after effect of ‘Baukh Nag’ anger. One of the priests said that he made a call for erecting ‘Baukh Nag temple’ before commencing the work but the company managers mocked his appeal.
He said that company managers are now convinced over his claim and have agreed to erect a ‘Baukh Nag temple’ on the entrance of tunnel.
