Uttarakhand: How rescue teams pulled off a herculean mission, NDRF IG explains

New Delhi: The sudden collapse of Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi region of Uttarakhand turned it into a death trap for 41 labourers as they got stuck inside the dark & ill-fated tunnel for more than 2 weeks, unless evacuated to safety by the large rescue teams led by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The 41 trapped workers spent 17 days in utter darkness and had many apprehensive moments when they felt losing the battle. It was only after 17 days that they saw liberation from ‘captivity’ and got a fresh lease of life.

It was the valiant & persistent rescue effort by large number of rescue teams including NDRF, Indian Army, mountain digging, rat mining teams and host of digging experts.

NDRF spearheaded the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation in active co-ordination with various agencies and brought the trapped workers to safety on November 28.

Regarding the operation, NDRF IG Narendra Singh Bundela spoke exclusively to Newsroompost.com and shed light on the historic mission, challenges & what it all took in pulling off the rare rescue act.

Mr Narendra Singh Bundela informed that the unfortunate incident took place in Silkyara tunnel on November 12. While a group of labourers were at work, a part of the tunnel caved in at around 8.55 AM in the morning and 41 of them got stuck inside the debris.

Detailing about the rescue operation, he said, “Centre & state machinery got activated, soon after the news about tunnel collapse spread. NDRF team along with SDRF personnel and state police were quickly mobilized and sent to the mishap site. After a careful review, the tunneling engineer said that it was possible to insert 900 ml pipe by drilling the same portion when the tunnel had collapsed.

“A detailed back up plan was also laid out while taking into account emergency measures. We had taken into account 3-4 back plans, so that if one fails, another could be activated,” he said further.

The ‘good part’ of the accident was that a small water pipeline existed where the portion of tunnel collapsed. This pipe became the mode of communication between trapped workers & rescue teams. This pipe was also used as makeshift arrangement to provide food to the stranded workers.

Centre and state govt teams made a well co-ordinated action for rescue and it was being monitored at the highest level. Top government officers including Secretaries of state govt were present at the spot, thus ensuring that all right practices were adopted and no gaps existed in the rescue act. The presence of top officers of government ensured that all logistics and equipments needed for rescue act were arranged well in time.

Speaking about the challenges of rescue mission, the NDRF IG said that the rescue teams suffered a major setback when they came across heavy rods at around 44 meters of the debris pile-up. When the digging became difficult, the NDRF personnel entered inside and cut these pipes with cutter.

According to NDRF IG, the second big difficulty was when the digging reached 48 metres. The rescue teams came across iron rods & pipes. Again, the NDRF personnels took to manual work and cut through them. Eventually, what happened at last is known to everybody. The NDRF and SDRF personnel went inside the tunnel via these pipes and pulled out all the stranded 41 workers to safety.