Silkyara Tunnel: Celebrations erupt as 41 trapped workers were safely extracted

Rescue workers pulled out all 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhands Silkyara tunnel in a multiagency rescue operation that hovered between hope and despair over almost 17 days Union Minister V K Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami welcomed the workers as National Disaster Response Force men brought them out through a steel chute that lined a 60metre escape passageRescue officials pose for group photos after the successful evacuation of 41 workers PicsPTIAn ambulance with the first of the 41 workers left the mouth of the tunnel around 8 pm about an hour after a group of rathole mining experts dug through the last stretch of rubble There was hugging and cheers as the ordeal ended Outside the tunnel some people chanted ldquoHar Har Mahadevrdquo and ldquoBharat Mata ki JairdquoBanned rathole minersrsquo talent experience come in handyRathole mining may be illegal but the talent and experience of rathole miners were used in the rescue operation to save the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel a National Disaster Management Authority member said on Tuesday National Disaster Management Authority NDMA member Lt Gen retd Syed Ata Hasnain said that rathole miners did a phenomenal job by digging 10 metres in less than 24 hoursRelatives and family members of workers Sukhram Bediya Naresh Bediya Rajendra Bediya and Anil Bediya celebrate after their evacuation PicPTIldquoRathole mining may be illegal but rat minersrsquo talent and experience which is being used it is their capability which is being usedrdquo he said in a media briefing here Rathole mining involves digging of narrow tunnels usually 34 feet high for workers to enter and extract coal The horizontal tunnels are often termed ldquorat holesrdquo as each just about fits one personTicking TimelineGraphicUday MohiteNov 12The labourers get trapped as portions of the SilkyaraDandalgaon underconstruction tunnel on the BrahmkhalYamunotri highway collapseNov 13Contact is established with the trapped workers through a pipe meant to supply oxygen to them and they are reported to be safe Nov 14Steel pipes of 800 and 900mm diameter are brought to tunnel site to be inserted through the rubble with the help of an auger machine for horizontal diggingNov 15Dissatisfied with the first drilling machine the NHIDCL asks for a stateoftheart auger machine which is airlifted from Delhi to speed up the operationNov 16The drilling machine is assembled and installed It starts working past midnightNov 17The machine drills about 24 m through the 57m rubble stretch and four MS pipes are inserted Process comes to a halt when the fifth pipe hits an obstacleNov 18Drilling does not resume on Saturday as experts feel vibrations created by American auger inside the tunnel might cause more debris to collapseNov 19Drilling remains suspended while Union minister Nitin Gadkari who reviews the rescue operationNov 21Rescuers release the first video of the labourers trapped NHIDCL resumes overnight the horizontal boring operationNov 22Horizontal drilling of 800 mm steel pipes reaches about 45 m with only 12 m remaining of the around 57metre debris stretchNov 23The iron obstruction that had caused a delay of six hours in the drilling is removedNov 24The 25tonne machine is restarted and drilling is resumed However in a fresh hurdle the drill hits a metal girderNov 25The blades of the auger machine drilling through the rubble is stuck in the debrisNov 26Vertical drilling of 192m is done to create an alternative escape route As the drilling progressed 700mm wide pipes are insertedNov 27Rathole mining experts are called in to help with rescuers requiring to dig through horizontally around 10 metres of rubbleNov 28Rescue workers break through the last stretch of the rubble at about 7 pmNov 12The day when a landslide caused underconstruction tunnel to collapse on Diwali17No of days the men remained trapped inside the tunnel as rescuers worked against time41No of workers who were trapped in the collapse all of whom have been rescued57mThe length that rescuers had to drill through without any damage to reach the workers41Miners were pulled to safety amidst hugging and cheersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever