Family and friends of the 41 workers who were safely pulled out from the debris of the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi celebrate by bursting firecrackers…reports Asian Lite News
After tireless rescuer efforts that continued for 16 days, all 41 trapped workers were evacuated successfully from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand.
Meanwhile, locals distributed sweets outside the Silkyara tunnel as trapped workers were being rescued from the tunnel.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the workers who have been rescued along with Union Minister of State General (Retd) VK Singh.
“Initial health checkup of all the workers is being done in the temporary medical camp built in the tunnel,” Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami tweeted.
Moreover, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said he is relieved and happy as 41 trapped labourers in the Silkyara Tunnel Collapse have been rescued.
A portion of the tunnel caved in on November 12, the debris falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, trapping 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure.
Families rejoice
Family and friends of the 41 workers, who were safely pulled out from the debris of the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi after 17 days are jubiliant and have been celebrating by bursting firecrackers.
For them it was a late Diwali, as the tunnel collapse happened on November 12, the day of the the festival.
The family of rescued workers Ram Milan, Santosh Kumar and Ram Sundar in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti rejoiced after their safe rescue.
Sandeep Kumar, the son of Ram Milan who was among the trapped workers, thanked everyone involved in the rescue operation.
“We are very happy. My relatives have gone to Uttarakhand to bring back my father. I would like to thank all those involved in the rescue operation,” Sandeep said while speaking to ANI.
Mother of Santosh Kumar, another worker who was rescued expressed her gratitude to the central government for the successful operation.
“We have spoken to Santosh on the phone, and he is currently in the hospital. Today we celebrated Diwali… We thank the central government and the rescue workers,” she said.
Another relative of Santosh said that they were asked not to worry when they spoke over the telephone with Santosh.
“I am very happy… He asked us not to worry and said that he would return soon. Six people from Shravasti were trapped inside the tunnel…” she said.
Expressing happiness and gratitude to the government, another relative said, “We are happy. We are celebrating Diwali. I thank the government for safely rescuing our children from the tunnel… We had a conversation with our son, and he said he is fine…”
Dhanpati, mother of Ram Sundar, a worker rescued from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, said that the whole village celebrated its Diwali on Tuesday after the rescue operation of the trapped workers.
“We are very happy… We celebrated Diwali yesterday evening, the entire village celebrated Diwali happily yesterday,” she said.
Of the 41 men, eight are from Uttar Pradesh, 15 are from Jharkhand, two are from Uttarakhand, five are from Bihar, three are from West Bengal, five are from Odisha, two are from Assam, and one is from Himachal Pradesh.
NDRF personnel share rescue anecdote
Authorities with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), one of the agencies involved since the beginning of the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue, credited the operation’s success to “proper coordination.”
After the 41 workers were brought out safely from the Silkyara tunnel at the end of a determined 17-day effort on Tuesday, NDRF Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahidi said, “Rescuing 41 trapped workers itself was a challenge.”
“The last intervention was a joint operation from NDRF and SDRF. Many agencies were involved in the rescue operation. This operation was completed successfully because of the proper coordination,” DIG Shahidi said while speaking to ANI.
Suresh Kumar Daral, another NDRF official, referred to the operation as the biggest in the history of India and said, “Our officers are always ready to face this kind of challenge.”
“This was one of the biggest operations in the history of our nation,” he said.
Manmohan Singh Rawat, an NDRF personnel who had entered the tunnel, narrated his experience and told how the trapped workers were enthralled after seeing NDRF and raised the slogan “NDRF Ki Jai.”
“As soon as I entered inside, all the 41 trapped workers shouted, ‘NDRF ki jai ho,’ and they were all extremely happy. It was a little difficult to enter inside, but we were trained very well,” Rawat said.
“Three people went inside, and then some SDRF rescuers also joined us. The first worker rescued was the oldest among them… It took us around 1.5 hours to rescue all the 41 workers,” he said.
“We evacuated all the workers that were trapped inside. After entering inside, we tried to boost their morale. All NDRF jawans were present there…” Sachin, another NDRF personnel, said. (ANI)
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