All 41 laborers were evacuated from Uttarakhand Tunnel, The first laborer came out at 7.50 and remained trapped in the tunnel for 17 days.
Uttarakhand Tunnel: On Diwali, when the entire country was bathed in lights, 41 laborers got trapped in a dark tunnel. These laborers were building a new route for Char Dham. A part of the Silkyara-Dandalgaon Tunnel of Uttarkashi suddenly collapsed and all the workers were cut off from the outside world.
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Rescue agencies started efforts to save the workers. When one plan failed, work started on another. Sometimes attempts were made to rescue the workers by digging from the mouth of the tunnel and sometimes from the top of the mountain. From 5.30 am on 12th November to 8.35 pm on 28th November i.e. 17 days later, about 399 hours.
The first laborer was taken out at 7.50 pm. Everyone was taken out after 45 minutes at 8.35 pm. Everyone was sent to the hospital by ambulance.
Rescue team member Harpal Singh said that the first breakthrough was found at 7.05 pm. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to the workers who were thrown out. Union Minister VK Singh was also with him.
All workers healthy
Naseem, a manual driller of rate snappers company Navyug, said – All the workers are healthy. I took a selfie with him. He said that when the last stone was removed, all the workers cheered.
The green corridor from the Uttarakhand Tunnel to the hospital
After the rescue, the workers were taken to Chinyalisaur, 30-35 KM away. A 41-bed special hospital has been built there. The road from the tunnel to Chinyalisad was declared a green corridor so that the ambulance carrying the workers to the hospital after the rescue did not get stuck in traffic. It is a distance of about 30 to 35 kilometers. This was fixed in about 40 minutes.
Excavated 12 meters in 21 hours
Earlier, rat miners engaged in horizontal drilling from the Silkyara side completed the excavation and came out of the pipe at 1.20 pm on the 17th day of the accident. He did 12 meters of manual drilling in about 21 hours. On November 24, the auger machine broke just 12 meters from the workers’ location. Due to this, the rescue had to be stopped.
After this, the army and rat miners were called for the remaining drilling. At 11 am on Tuesday morning, happiness was visible on the faces of the family members of the workers when the officers asked them to keep their clothes and bags ready. Good news is coming soon.
Rat Miners completed 12 meters of drilling in 21 hours,
How Rat Miners Worked in Uttarakhand Tunnel
Rat miners entered the 800mm pipe and did the drilling. They would go inside the pipe one by one, and then dig with a small shovel with the help of their hands. Around 2.5 quintals of debris would come out from the trolley at a time. Inside the pipe, all of them also had an oxygen mask for protection, special glasses to protect the eyes, and a blower for air.
What is rat hole mining?
Rat means rat, hole means hole and mining means digging. The meaning is clear: to enter a hole and dig like a rat. In this, digging is started from the side of the mountain with a thin hole, and after making a pole, it is slowly drilled with a small hand drilling machine, and the debris is taken out by hand.
The process called rat hole mining has been commonly used in coal mining. Rat hole mining is rampant in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and North East, but rat hole mining is a very dangerous work, hence it has been banned many times.
Uttarakhand Tunnel experts said
The mountain taught us to be humble International tunnel expert Arnold Dix said while talking to Dainik Bhaskar on Tuesday – The mountain has told us one thing, that is to remain humble. 41 men, home safe, and then you report the most extraordinary thing. Dix pointed towards the success of the operation.
PM Modi took information about the rescue operation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and took updates on the rescue operation. He said that along with the safety of the workers trapped inside, special care should also be taken for the safety of the people engaged in relief work outside. He said that the families of the workers trapped inside should not face any kind of problem.