Workers Rescued from a Tunnel Collapse in India After a 17 Day Wait
A father embraces his son, who had just been rescued from the tunnel early Wednesday, November 29. Source: BBC/Prashant Pandey
On Tuesday, rescuers freed 41 construction workers trapped under a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, after spending 17 days under rubble. The rescue, widely followed on Indian news stations and social media, faced several major setbacks. The laborers, all migrant workers from poorer states in India, quickly reunited with their families after their release.
The construction workers were upgrading a road tunnel in the region when a sudden landslide left them trapped on Nov. 12. Within 24 hours, the workers sent out a signal to rescuers, indicating that they were safe. Rescuers supplied them with oxygen through a tube, and brought in a heavy drill to break through the 60 meter wall of debris trapping the workers.
However, the heavy drill broke down several times over the course of the rescue, frustrating rescuers. A second machine was then brought in to replace it, but also failed after digging through three-quarters of debris. As a result, the rescuers stopped using drills and tasked six Indian miners with rat-mining to save the workers.
An ambulance on standby at the entrance of the tunnel during the workers’ rescue on November 28th, 2023. Source: PTI
Rat mining is a coal mining practice that involves a group of workers digging small pits in the ground. When the coal seams are reached, the miners dig tunnels sideways to extract as much of the coal as possible. It was once a prominent form of mining throughout India until it was banned in 2015 by the National Green Tribunal. They cited the inherent risk it poses to the miners and environmental damage it causes as reasons. Several rivers became too acidic to foster aquatic life as a direct result of rat mining in Northeast India.
However, despite the ban, rat mining remains in use throughout the country. The state government of Manipur previously challenged the ban, arguing that rat mining is economically crucial for the state, and the Meghalayan state government published a report indicating that rat mining is still widespread throughout their state.
The tunnel the construction workers were making is meant to be a part of the larger Char Dham Highway route, a massive project focusing on upgrading the routes to various Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand. Prior to the approval of the central government, environmentalists expressed concern about the potential negative side effects this project might have. They projected that workers would cut down around 33,000 to 43,000 trees as a result of the expansion. In 2018, an NGO called Citizens for Green Doon filed a petition against the project to the Indian Supreme Court.
A panel of experts appointed by the Court warned that the upgrade could “lead to further landslides and soil erosion in an already sensitive environment,” and advised that the government reduce the scope of the project. Despite these concerns, the Supreme Court allowed the project to go on as originally intended in 2021, dismaying environmental activists. After a safety audit and repair of the broken structure, the project will resume.