New Delhi: After successfully evacuating all 41 workers, the rescuers on Tuesday expressed their joy and happiness as they managed to free those workers trapped in the Silyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since November 12.
The rescue teams completed the operation, which lasted over 400 hours, around 8.30 pm on Tuesday after continuous efforts, as they encountered several obstacles over the weeks.
News agency ANI shared a video of the successful rescue of all the construction workers who were trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel for the last 17 days.
On the successful evacuation of all the workers, NDRF personnel Manmohan Singh Rawat said, "As soon as I entered inside, all the 41 trapped workers shouted 'NDRF ki jai ho', they were all extremely happy. It was a little difficult to enter inside but we were trained very well...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..."
After the evacuation was completed, ambulances ferried the rescued workers to a community health centre where a special 41-bed ward had been prepared for their arrival.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the workers rescued from inside the Silkyara tunnel. Union Minister V K Singh was also present with him.
Speaking on the rescue operation, another NDRF personnel Sachin 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..."
On November 12, the labourers were trapped after a portion of the under-constructed tunnel, part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government, collapsed about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi.