WATCH | "Your courage & patience....": PM Modi speaks to workers as 17 days of Silkyara tunnel horror ends, lauds rescuers

NewsBharati 29-Nov-2023 09:54:44 AM

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Dehradun, Nov 29: Hours after the safe evacuation of 41 trapped workers from the Silkyara tunnel on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the rescued men over the phone.

Union Minister VK Singh and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami welcomed the workers as they were brought out through a steel chute that lined a 60-meter escape passage. All 41 men, who were rescued from the collapsed tunnel after 17 days, have been brought to the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur for primary medical treatment.

PM Modi congratulated them on their successful way out of the tunnel and lauded them for the courage they had shown over the 17 days they were trapped inside the tunnel. He also praised the workers for being together and not losing hope while waiting patiently for the rescue team to reach them.

The workers too updated PM Modi about their life inside the collapsed tunnel. They recalled how they were not scared as they were together all the time. And, they expressed gratitude towards the Uttarakhand government and the chief minister for all their efforts.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi's telephonic conversation with the workers who were successfully rescued from Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel after 17 days pic.twitter.com/G1q26t5Ke8
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2023

Earlier, PM Modi praised the bravery and determination of rescuers involved in the Silkyara tunnel operation, saying that they have given new life to the laborers who were trapped in the tunnel for the last 17 days, adding that the mission has set an "example of humanity and teamwork."

"The success of the rescue operation of our laborer brothers in Uttarkashi is making everyone emotional. I want to say to the friends who were trapped in the tunnel that your courage and patience are inspiring everyone. I wish you all well and good health," PM Modi said in a post on X.

"It is a matter of great satisfaction that after a long wait, these friends of ours will now meet their loved ones. The patience and courage that all these families have shown in this challenging time cannot be appreciated enough," PM Modi added.

उत्तरकाशी में हमारे श्रमिक भाइयों के रेस्क्यू ऑपरेशन की सफलता हर किसी को भावुक कर देने वाली है।

टनल में जो साथी फंसे हुए थे, उनसे मैं कहना चाहता हूं कि आपका साहस और धैर्य हर किसी को प्रेरित कर रहा है। मैं आप सभी की कुशलता और उत्तम स्वास्थ्य की कामना करता हूं।

यह अत्यंत…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 28, 2023

Rescue Operation

The rescue workers had to come up with multiple plans. The first plan was to drill through the debris from the mouth of the tunnel. Machines were used to drill through but after several setbacks, the rat miners were employed.

The second plan was to drill vertically through the hill above the tunnel. But this required drilling 86m to reach the workers. The work had begun and rescuers calculated it would take four days in the operation if they met no obstacles. Special drills had been brought to the site for this. But it was not needed.

When heavy machinery broke down, authorities called in a group of people whose profession is effectively banned in the country — "rat-hole mining". The augur machines had horizontally drilled through nearly three-quarters of the debris before it fell on half a dozen miners to reach the trapped workers.

The "rat miners" started working late on Monday with 15 metres out of 60 metres still left to reach the trapped men. They worked in two teams of three each, with one person drilling, the second collecting the debris and the third pushing it out of the pipe. Rescuers successfully pulled out the workers in wheeled stretchers through a wide pipe that was pushed through the debris after a 17-day ordeal.