Silkyara Tunnel Collapse: Rescue Mission Succeeds

Forty-one construction workers had been trapped under the debris since November 12, 2023, after a portion of the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand, which was under construction, collapsed. Indian authorities were working constantly to rescue the affected, considering the fact that the two-week mark had been crossed.

State authorities had approved purchasing equipment and more staff to implement alternatives such as creating escape tunnels on both the left and right sides of the tunnel. Rescue crews had been drilling ceaselessly to reach the lost workers, but given the unstable mountain environment, there were concerns that additional debris may fall and complicate the rescue attempts. It could also prove to be a safety hazard for those entrapped.

Finally after 17 days, on the 28th of November, there was a breakthrough as the rescue workers managed to drill through the remaining 60 m stretch of the rubble.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel entered the steel chute and shoved it into the drilling channel one by one, bringing out the workers one by one. Each worker was made to lie on a wheeled stretcher and be dragged outdoors by rescue workers using ropes.

Since Monday, twelve rat-hole mining experts have been digging horizontally through the last 10 or 12 meters of debris from the collapsed segment of the under-construction tunnel. This drilling was previously done by a massive auger machine that became caught in the rubble on Friday at roughly 47 meters before ultimate success.

The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway project, a multimillion-dollar infrastructure plan to improve connectivity in the state of Uttarakhand and better access to important pilgrimage locations. Environmentalists have criticized the project as a threat to the Himalayan ecosystem, where millions of people are already struggling with the effects of climate change. Experts warn that the heavy drilling operations could weaken already fragile land formations, leading to increased risk of mudslides and flash floods.