Rescuers hopeful of reaching trapped workers in collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel

On the second day of rescue operations at the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi district, where 40 workers remain trapped, a state government official said that efforts to clear debris are underway.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said that all workers inside the tunnel are safe, receiving sufficient food and oxygen through pipes.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami assessed the relief and rescue operations at the Silkyara tunnel. Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged full support for the ongoing rescue mission, adding that both the state and central governments are trying their best to ensure the safe evacuation of the workers.

The National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and various other agencies and experts have been mobilized to rescue the workers. The majority of the trapped individuals are laborers from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and West Bengal.

The tunnel, which was being constructed on a national highway that is part of a Hindu pilgrimage route, collapsed early Sunday morning due to a landslide.

The Char Dham pilgrimage project is one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. It aims to connect four important Hindu pilgrimage sites of North India through 889 kilometres (552 miles) of two-lane road being constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion.