DEHRADUN/ NEW DELHI: Forty workers are still trapped in a tunnel which collapsed on November 12 in Uttarakhand as rescue efforts continue today, November 14. Authorities told BBC that they established contact with the trapped men on Sunday night using walkie-talkies. The officials of the company said a pipe is being used to give food, water and tea to them,” said Maharaj.
Stuck in a tunnel for over 60 hours, a labourer from Uttarakhand managed to speak to his son for a few seconds on Tuesday. In a testament to the man’s mental strength, he assured his son that there was no cause for worry and said that he has been helping the 39 others, who are trapped with him, keep their morale up.
Gabbar Singh Negi from Kotdwar is among 40 people who are trapped in the under-construction tunnel that collapsed on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand early on Sunday morning. Speaking to NDTV on Tuesday, Mr Negi’s son, Akash, said he managed to talk to his father through the pipe that has been installed to ensure that oxygen reaches the trapped laborers..
“My father works as a supervisor. I spoke to him today. He said he is helping everyone keep their morale high and asked me to tell everyone at home not to worry. My father said no one has been injured and they are getting adequate food and water. The engineers tell me they will be rescued in a few hours. I am hoping that will happen,” Akash said in Hindi.
Most of the trapped laborers migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Himachal Pradesh. A portion of an under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway gave away during a landslide, trapping the workers. The incident took place in the Uttarkashi district. The collapsed stretch, it has been reported, is around 200 meters.
Mr Negi’s elder brother, Maharaj, who was also at the site, said his brother has been with the company, which is involved in the construction of the tunnel, for over 22 years. “My brother has a lot of experience and that is one of the reasons that the labourers who are with him are safe. Officials said the workers have been trapped in a buffer zone and have space to move around. “They have a buffer of around 400 meters to walk and breathe,” a disaster response official said.
A portion of the 4.5-km tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway, which is meant to join Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi, collapsed early on Sunday morning. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham project.
Meanwhile,the rescue teams have made little headway in cutting down the rocks that fell over a 200-meter area, trapping the workers inside the tunnel. Dehradun/Delhi: Concerted efforts are being made to rescue the 40 workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand for over 48 hours.
The tunnel under construction where the workers have been trapped since Sunday is part of the union government’s ambitious and controversial Char Dham road project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Project aims to widen around 900 km of existing national highways that connect several Hindu pilgrimage sites in the state of Uttarakhand including Badrinath and Kedarnath, up to the Indo-Tibet border.
The Union government has cited both national security concerns and improving tourist footfall and amenities as reasons for converting the existing highways into double-laned, 12-14 meter-wide roads with a paved shoulder configuration for 674 km till the border.
(Bureau Report with inputs from VIPIN DHULIYA in Dehradun).

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save