Producer: Peuli Bakshi
40 workers got trapped in an under-construction road tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway, after it collapsed on Monday, Nov 20, 2023.
The workers have been trapped for about a week, as rescuers worked on a plan of digging toward them vertically.
The rescuers had to remove about 10 metres of debris, to reach the trapped site workers, and the work went on for about a week.
During the time the workers were trapped in, they were provided food and other necessities through wide pipes from outside.
This screen grab image provided by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) shows one of the 40 workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel.
Rescuers drilled deeper into the rubble of the tunnel on Friday, to fix wide pipes through which the workers crawled to their freedom on the 6th day.
About 18 tonnes of those pipes were airlifted by an IAF aircraft to the site, for the rescue operation.
The usage of wide pipes was innvative and a great move in face of such dire situation.
The NDRF and other Emergency Services personnel conducted a mock drill, before actually rescuing the trapped workers.
The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami reviewed the rescue operation
Overall, it was a great effort on the rescuers' part and the trapped workers were brought out of the tunnel safely.