Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: Temporary medical facility set up inside tunnel for workers

A temporary medical facility has been set up inside the tunnel. After evacuating the trapped workers, health training will be done at this place. A team of doctors and experts are also present at the makeshift medical facility. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel will pull out the trapped workers one by one with the help of wheeled stretchers tied to ropes. Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Silkyara and conducted on-site inspection of the ongoing rescue operations. International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who joined the operations to rescue the 41 workers trapped in the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel earlier this month, prayed for the safety of labourers today.Arnold Dox was seen performing rituals with a priest at a small temple set up by the locals outside the tunnel.

On November 12, a section of tunnel between 205 and 260 metres from the Silkyara side collapsed. Workers who were beyond the 260-metre mark were trapped, with their exit blocked. Fortunately for them, the part of the tunnel where they are stuck has power and water supply. While government authorities have maintained that a detailed probe will reveal what led to the collapse, multiple theories are floating around. One of them is that a landslide in the fragile Himalayan region led to the collapse. Several experts have pointed out how hasty development in the ecologically sensitive region was responsible for the incident.The workers have been trapped since and rescue operation is ongoing. The multiple-agency led rescue efforts initial plan was to rescue workers through horizontal drilling with the expertise of international tunnelling experts. As Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation enters final stage, AIIMS Rishikesh Assistant Professor Dr Narinder Kumar says, "The rescued workers will be brought here only if medical treatment requirements cannot be met in Uttarkashi District hospital. At AIIMS Rishikesh, there are 20 beds in Trauma Centre and a few ICU beds. If the workers are brought here, they can be given good medical care. A team of doctors has been constituted to be sent to Uttarkashi, if ordered by the state government."