New Delhi: A joint operation involving multiple agencies is underway to rescue 40 workers who have been trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand since Sunday morning.
The incident took place when an under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district partially collapsed at around 5 am on Sunday, resulting in 40 workers becoming trapped.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF), and the police are carrying out the rescue operations.
Photographs and videos showed huge amounts of concrete blocking the wide tunnel, with twisted metal bars from its broken roof protruding in front of the rubble.
This tunnel is designed to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, as part of the Char Dham Road Project, with the aim of reducing the travel distance from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 kilometers.
According to officials, the workers stuck inside the tunnel hail from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday said that he has been briefed about the ongoing rescue operation. “I have been in contact with the officials from the time I got to know about the incident. NDRF and SDRF are at the spot. We pray to God for the safe return of everybody,” he said.