Uttarkashi Tunnel Trapped Workers Finally Rescued After 17 Days
The 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyari tunnel were safely rescued on 28th November 2023. The rescue operation took 17 days and faced many challenges.
All the 41 workers trapped inside Uttarakhand's Silkyari tunnel since November 12 were safely rescued on the late night of 28th November 2023. The workers were greeted by Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister VK Singh. Both garlanded the workers to welcome them back. As you may remember from our previous video on the news, the workers were constructing the Silkyari tunnel under PM Modi’s Char Dham Road Project. On the early morning of 12th November 2023, a portion between 205 & 260 meters from the entrance of the tunnel collapsed trapping all the workers working beyond that point. Since then, the rescue operations faced many challenges and various agencies carried out relentless efforts to safely evacuate the workers from the collapsed tunnel. One of the first challenges faced in the rescue operation took place on the 6th day when the breaking of the blades of the auger machine (a type of land drilling machine) broke during a critical 60-meter drilling operation and a big crack appeared in the tunnel. While another auger machine was immediately arranged from Indore, the rescuers were worried about its vibrational noise causing more debris avalanche in the tunnel. The rescue operation stopped for 2 days to let the tunnel debris set & to ensure the safety of the trapped workers inside. Afterward, various drilling techniques were used to create a passage and lay pipes through 86-meter-long vertical drilling and 170-meter-deep perpendicular drilling. A camera was sent through these pipes and the first visuals of the trapped workers were seen by their family members and the world on day 10 i.e. 21st November 2023. The next day the horizontal drilling reached up to 45 meters and stopped as it was obstructed by the internal iron construction rods of the tunnel. The Indian army helped with the rescuers by manually removing the iron rods & through manual horizontal drilling. The rescue mission got delayed because of the removal of these iron rods and while the rescue worker resumed, it was again stopped the next day i.e. 24th November 2023 because the shaft & the blade of the auger machine got stuck & damaged in the rescue tunnel it was building. On 25th November 2023, BSNL established a telephone line so that the workers can talk to their loved ones. To remove the damaged & stuck part of the auger machine, the rescue team called for the plasma rod cutters on 26th November 2023. The plasma rod cutter is a machine that can cut through things without grinding into the object. The damaged parts of the auger machine are removed and manual drilling is initiated. On the 16th day i.e. 26th November 2023, a team of 12 Rat-hole mining experts from Jhansi was handed the premises to start the last phase of the rescue operation. Rat-hole mining is a type of manual drilling in which only a 4 feet deep vertical hole is dug and then sideways horizontal narrow pits are burrowed to move forward. These pits are wide enough for just one person to fit into. The rat hole miners are experts in manually borrowing and navigating the confined spaces of the pits. The rat-hole miners dug through the last 12 meters of the debris and reached the trapped workers. Finally, the rescue pipes were inserted through the debris and all 41 workers were rescued through it. CM Dhami has announced financial assistance of ?1 lakh for each worker and promised complete medical care. President Droupadi Murmu congratulated the team & admired the determination of the experts in carrying out one of the most difficult rescue missions in history via a tweet. PM Modi also applauded the efforts and success of rescuers and tweeted “Everyone involved in this mission has set an amazing example of humanity and teamwork." Many Bollywood celebrities including Abhishek Bachan, Akshay Kumar & Jackie Shroff expressed their congratulatory wishes to the rescue team via X.
