November 22, 2023
NEW DELHI – The first video of the workers trapped inside the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand since the last nine days was released on Tuesday.
Portions of the tunnel had collapsed following a landslide on November 12, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. The tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from Dehradun, is part of the Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government.
The video, taken with the help of an endoscopy flexi camera sent to the wprkers through a six-inch pipeline, showed them in a healthy condition.
According to officials, hard food, including khichdi, fruits and daliya packets, were sent through the new pipeline to the stranded workers on Monday.
All the stranded workers were asked to stand in a line during the video call made through the endoscopy camera, they said, adding that only 12 of these workers could be seen in the frame owing to the small size of the camera lens.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an update from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami about the situation.
“Today PM called again and sought details as to rescue and relief works for the trapped workers inside the under construction Silkyara tunnel. Prime Minister said safe evacuation of all workers is our priority,” Dhami said in a series of posts on X.
“PM was informed about the successful laying of six inches diameter pipeline across the debris and delivery of food and other items to the stranded workers inside the tunnel. He was also told about video call made to the trapped workforce through an endoscopy flexi camera sent to them,” he added.