The 41 workers trapped inside the collapsed part of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi could have been rescued much earlier had the company built an escape route as per standard operating procedure. But, the escape route was not included in the 4.5-km tunnel once construction began despite it being part of the original design, pointing to an alleged serious lapse.
According to a report published by NDTV, a map of the tunnel has emerged pointing towards an alleged serious lapse by the company involved in its construction. Standard operating procedure requires that an escape route be built inside every tunnel more than 3 km in length, so as to rescue people in case of an accident or natural calamity.
The map, displayed when union minister VK Singh visited the site of the tunnel collapse on November 16, shows that an escape route was part of the original design of the 4.5-km Silkyara tunnel, but it was never executed. Such routes can be used even after tunnels are built and can aid in the rescue of those passing through in vehicles if there is any collapse-like situation or natural disasters like landslides.
Now, rescue and relief teams are having to come up with alternate plans to extract the labourers trapped inside. Machines are drilling into rubble to insert pipes through which the workers will be rescued.
The rescue and relief operations entered the seventh day on Saturday while the number of workers trapped inside the tunnel has been revised to 41. A team from the prime minister’s office (PMO) is also at the site to review the rescue operation. MoRTH additional secretary Mahmood Ahmed, PMO deputy secretary Mangesh Ghildiyal, geologist Varun Adhikari and engineering expert Armando Capellan are conducting an on-the-spot review.
The operation was put on hold due to a machine snag. Around 2.45 pm on Friday, during the positioning of the fifth pipe, a loud cracking sound was heard in the tunnel after which the rescue operation was suspended. The sound created panic in the rescue team. The pipe-pushing activity was stopped after an expert involved with the project warned about the possibility of further collapse in the vicinity.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting with officials at his official residence in Dehradun to take an update on the rescue operations at the tunnel in Silkyara. Dhami said he hopes the state-of-the-art machines manufactured in the country and abroad will be successful in the rescue operations.
“Under the guidance of the PMO, the state government is busy making all efforts to evacuate labourers trapped inside the tunnel ares. We hope we will soon succeed in the mission,” he said. “The government stands with the families of workers who are trapped. Their safe and timely evacuation is our priority,” he added.
So far, rescue workers have managed to drill through up to 24 metres of rubble. It may require up to 60 meters (195 feet) to enable the escape of workers.
All trapped labourers are also physically and mentally fit so far, with authorities making sure essential supplies like oxygen, medicines, food and water reached the trapped labourers through air-compressed pipes. “The morale of the people needs to be maintained… The food and water supply and the psychological state of the stuck workers are well… They are being talked to by psychological experts… All of them are fit physically and mentally,” NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho said.
(With PTI inputs)
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