On Nov 28, 2023, a rescue team in India freed 41 construction workers who had been trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi, a town in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand near Himalayas. The trapped workers emerged smiling after 17 days of grueling anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.
- A landslide caused a section of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8 mile) tunnel about 200 meters (220 yards) from the entrance to collapse on the morning of Nov 12. Their only exit point was blocked with more than 60 meters of broken rock, concrete, and twisted metal.
- This tunnel is a part of the $ 1.5 Billion Char Dham Highway, one of the most ambitious projects of the Indian Government, aimed at connecting four pilgrimage sites through a 550-mile network of roads.
- The rescue was supposed to last only a few days, but a series of setbacks led to the delay. As a final blow, the gigantic boring machine broke down after drilling 47 meters out of the 60 meters, where the workers were waiting to be freed from the ordeal.
- Fortunately, the workers had light in the collapsed tunnel, and they were provided with food, water, medicine, and oxygen through pipes. When the use of the machinery was not the choice again, the rescue team then took a decision to employ “Rat Miners”.
- Rat mining is used to remove coal deposits by using bare hands. A dozen rat miners were called in and they took turns digging through rocks and debris. The rat miners used hand tools. Though the operation was hazardous, they succeeded in removing all debris and freeing the workers.
- The workers were pulled out on wheeled stretchers through a 3 feet wide steel pipe with the entire process being completed in 2 hours. The state Chief minister welcomed the trapped workers and congratulated the rescue team for their excellent work. The entire scenario was emotional.
- “Heroism is most often a case of individual effort and sacrifice” commented, the industrialist, Anand Mahindra, while congratulating the rat mining team.
- “An amazing example of humanity and teamwork” appreciated Prime minister Modi, who has been kept abreast of the operation from day one. The freed workers were sent to the hospital for a medical check-up and then were driven home.
- Nature challenges the man on the first day. The man feels defeated and lost initially. But the man gets up, plans, formulates strategies, fights for several days, and emerges victorious. Yes. eventually, the man is the winner.
Content courtesy to Google, BBC, AP News, Aljazeera, CNN, YouTube, The Guardian, Reuters, NPR, The Indian Express, and a few other newspapers.
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