Likes of Firoz, Nasir, Naseem, Munna, Monu, Irshad and 12 such ‘rat-miners’ from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh had ask for 36 hours to dig their way to the 41 men stuck inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since 12th November 2023.
But, they did the job within 27 hours, leading to triumph for the human spirit in the long tunnel rescue operation.
Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue Operation : All 41 Workers Evacuated Safely | 2YoDo TV
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But there were many other heroes too.
One was the six-inch pipe that reach the labourers on 20th November 2023, bringing them the much-need communication line and solid food, which improve their morale and did not let the spirits down.
The other factor was that two of the stuck labourers, Gabbar Singh and Shaba Ahmed, took the leadership role inside the tunnel and motivate other workers and ensure that the team-spirit and morale remain very high.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulate Gabbar Singh and Shaba Ahmed during his 15-minute long phone-call to the 41 labourers last night and prais the duo for showing their leadership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said :
“Some university should do a case-study on the leadership show by you both village men. You motivate your fellow labourers,”.
Gabbar Singh and Shaba Ahmed told PM Modi how labourers kept themselves busy by hearing songs, doing Yoga and taking long walks inside the tunnel.
When the debris collapse in the Silkyara tunnel was report at 5:30 am on 12th November 2023, the Centre had immediately swung into action.
The Auger drilling machine was air-lift to the site and drilling began to get to the labourers.
Situation was tough till 20th November 2023 as only a four-inch pipe was the bridge to the stuck labourers and they had to survive only on dry fruits.
But on 20th November 2023, a six-inch pipe could reach the labourers in a breakthrough.
This prove to be a lifeline as a communication line could be then establish by BSNL with the workers and a camera was sent to get videos of the workers.
Solid food was also sent in with medicines and phone chargers to keep the workers healthy and in high spirits.
The workers could use the phone line to speak to the authorities, psychologists deputed at the tunnel as well as their families.
This improve the morale of the stuck labourers, as per authorities.
Situation handle after the Auger machine broke down on 17th November 2023.
The authorities went by expert advice and the 12 rat-hole miners were call in earlier this week from a Delhi-based firm to carry out manual digging at the site.
The rat-miners had apparently ask for 36 hours to complete the job as two of them manually dug into the debris while the rest of the rat-miners took the debris out of the tunnel.
The rat-miners achieve the task within 27 hours, ahead of their own target, and finally a welded pipe was insert last evening to pull the 41 workers out.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) men went in to the bring the workers out of the pipe and the entire process was complete within 45 minutes after the youngest worker came out at 7:50 pm.
Lastly, the ‘whole of government’ approach from the central and state in mission mode, and the rat-hole miners did wonders.
