Deepawali is one of the most enthusiastically celebrated festivals in the country. This year, it was not so for the families of the 41 workers who got trapped behind a cave-in at the Silkyara tunnel site in Uttarakhand on the morning of November 12, the day of the festival. The long ordeal that followed was watched by the whole nation with bated breath and deep concern. The journey was a rollercoaster of emotions, with moments of anticipation that the ordeal would soon end followed by disappointment as tactic after tactic failed, until eventually, the mountain relented.
The first attempt at using heavy earth-moving machines was not productive. An Auger drilling machine was operationalised; the first low-power Auger was replaced with one that had a higher capacity, and airlifted to the site by the Air Force. This seemed like a simple and quick method to reach the trapped workers, but it was not to be. Meanwhile, a system was set up for supplying food and water to them through a pipe. Mercifully, they were not trapped in a dark and confined space; they had electricity and 2 km of finished tunnel behind them. A communication system was established, which helped keep their spirits up.
The Auger on which all our hopes were pinned kept breaking down, since the rubble it was drilling through was littered with metal rods, girders and pipes from the tunnel roof that had collapsed from the cave-in. The strategy was switched to one with multiple options so that we would not remain dependent on a single solution that may fail. Five more plans were put in place — two sites for vertical drilling, an additional site for a horizontal tunnel, a drift inside the tunnel and opening the tunnel from the Barkot end. These options had to be carefully calibrated and sequenced lest they sabotage the Auger machine boring, which still seemed like the best solution. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) made quick work of creating passable roads at the site for the placement of all this equipment.
The whole-of-government approach, led by the Prime Minister’s Office, a Union Minister and the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand ensured that nothing was lacking. Every resource, from expertise to experience, technology and equipment, was sourced through the length and breadth of the country and made available in the fastest possible manner; heavy equipment was moved from as far away as Odisha and Gujarat. Expertise was sourced from across the world and eventually, several foreign experts also reached the site.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officers and teams reached the site as soon as the first piece of information was received. They planned and rehearsed for any and every situation — from a 32-inch horizontal rescue, to a 22-inch vertical rescue, where we would have to cut metal girders, 90 metres down, for access. We practised lifting this weight with our equipment and also manually, if it came to that. Equipment was also sourced from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. The Army Sappers helped us fabricate a metal capsule which could safely transport one person at a time for vertical rescue. NDRF also received a steady stream of suggestions from citizens across the country; it was as if the entire nation was putting its might behind us!
Every time we were close to success, the mountain played spoiler. On the sixth day, ominous rumbling created the fear of another cave-in, driving the rescuers out for a while. NDRF rescuers led the way inside again. But this side of the tunnel was more unstable, so an escape route was established in case another cave-in hit the rescue efforts here. Eventually, the Auger failed after bringing us close to the other end with about 10 metres still to go. The entangled shaft, helical screw, and pipe had to be cut under the most trying circumstances for two-three days and extricated before access to the front end of the tunnel could be regained. Finally, the task was entrusted to the rat-hole miners, who toiled non-stop for 27 hours, in claustrophobic confined spaces to emerge at the other end, proving that the American writer Elbert Hubbard was right when he said, “One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” The (extra)ordinary tunnel workers and rat-hole miners proved to be the critical resource for this extraordinary success.
With these multiple agencies and a wide spectrum of experience, from rat-hole miners to foreign experts, the task of coordination was very ably handled by the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Managing Director of National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, who stayed on the spot to see the operation through. When I had spoken to the foreman trapped inside, through the communication link, he had seemed in good spirits and shared that they had worked out the sequence of rescue — labourers first, workers second and with himself as the last to exit. A true leader in the most difficult of circumstances!
Though many agencies helped make it happen, the courage and tenacity of the rat-hole miners and those who worked for long hours for the cutting operations inside the pipe were truly inspirational. They are the real heroes, along with the 41 trapped workers who displayed unflagging fortitude, and the entire team at the site which had a never-say-die attitude, even after a series of setbacks. This whole operation reminds us of the humility and respect we need to have for every interaction we have with nature. It also reminds us that once we get together with a determined mindset, we can accomplish the seemingly impossible.
The writer is DG NDRF. Views are personal
