On the seventeenth day, today, a huge success was achieved by the chief minister Uttarakhand who personally welcomed the first labourer who was rescued safely. Till now about all the 41 trapped labourers have been rescued via steel pipe through stretcher. The trapped labourers are in extremely good health said one of the workers, working in the rescue operation. The Australian drilling expert and chartered engineer Arnold Dix and one other foreigner involved in this job expressed their jubilation over the safe rescue of the workers. According to the latest news within an hour all the trapped workers were rescued safely as less than five minutes were consumed to rescue each labourer. The chief minister from the Sylkiara tunnel site wrote on social media platform X: The work of evacuating the labor being trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel has started. So far 22 workers have been rescued. Initial health checkup of all the workers is being done in the temporary medical camp built in the tunnel. Meanwhile, the rescued workers are being ferried to the Health Centre at Chilyanisaur where a forty one bedded temporary health centre with doctors, medical facilities have been arranged.
The chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, union minister V. K. Singh, several experts, PMO officials , NDRF, SDRF senior officers, lower staff including Indian Army personnel and various undertaking like ONGC and the company involved in tunnel project etc. were present at the time of rescue operation. The Union minister NHAI Nitin Gadkari had also visited the tunnel site a week ago along with the CM and assessed the situation for himself going inside and deliberating with the experts and those trapped inside the tunnel. The chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the Union minister V. K. Singh garlended every evacuated worker and congratulated them for their safe evacuation.
Anoop Nautiyal, founder of SDC Foundation and a well-known social worker from Uttarakhand, posted a picture of a laborer trapped in a round pipe and wrote on X: The roller coaster ride of 17 days has ended. It was like a pot boiler with so many ups and downs. The superheroes, of course, were the 41 men who remained stranded for 17 days. While many questions abound, tonight is the night to savor their release! Jai Badri, Jai Kedar
