Uttarakhand: Rescued tunnel workers taken to health centre, what happens next?

“Because the trapped workers have just come out of a very unusual environment, they will be kept under observation for now, and based on the recommendations of doctors, we will decide the next course of action,” said Dhami.

He confirmed that none of them had any medical issues and they all are in good health. He added that even though there was availability of stretchers, none of the workers used them, and rather crawled through the rescue pipes instead.

The rescued workers speak to the PM over the phone

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government announced a monetary help of Rs 1 lakh to each of the rescued workers. “For each of our worker brothers, we have announced a monetary help of Rs 1 lakh each from the Uttarakhand government. We will hand over the cheques on Wednesday. We will also request NHIDCL to give them a paid leave of 15 days so that they go back to their homes,” he said.

According to sources, the Jharkhand and Odisha governments are planning to bring back the rescued workers from their state via airways, while the Uttar Pradesh and other governments will take a decision after the medical checkup is complete. The rescued workers include 15 from Jharkhand, 8 from Uttar Pradesh, 5 each from Odisha and Bihar, 3 from West Bengal, 2 each from Uttarakhand and Assam, and 1 from Himachal Pradesh.

All the rescuers and experts involved in the operations, along with machines called from across the country, will also start returning. Dhami also confirmed that they will assess all such tunnels in Uttarakhand, and the government of India has already announced a safety audit.