Mamata Banerjee sends a team to aid Bengal workers trapped inside the Uttarakhand tunnel

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that her administration had promptly dispatched a team to Uttarakhand on Tuesday, in aid of the workers from Bengal who were stuck in the Silkyara tunnel for the past 17 days.

Taking to social media platform ‘X’, the West Bengal CM informed about the team en route to Uttarakhand, headed by Rajdeep Dutta, Liaison Officer, Office of Resident Commissioner, New Delhi. “Have rushed a team to Uttarkashi for helping our people. The team, led by Rajdeep Dutta, Liaison Officer, Office of Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, will help evacuation and safe return of the trapped workers in the tunnel at Silkyara, Uttarkashi to their homes in West Bengal.
The team further includes: 1.Shubhabrata Pramanick: Mobile 8981200471 2.Somnath Chakraborty: Mobile 8130258750 3.Raju Kumar Sinha: Mobile 9968732695
They have moved for Uttarkashi by a car (Car no. WB02AP – 0014; Driver A. Kumar, Mobile 9971413458) to facilitate our 3 workers (1. Shri Manir Talukdar, S/o Shri K. Talukdar, Cooch Behar. 2. Shri Sevik Pakhera, S/o Shri Asit Pakhera, Harinakhali 3. Shri Jaidev Pramanik, S/o Shri Tapas Pramanik, Nimdangi, Hooghly) who have been trapped inside the collapsed Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi. Assuring all support.”posted Banerjee on ‘X’.

Earlier today, the tunnel had been successfully breached after a team of skilled labourers known as "rat miners," commenced the process of manual drilling of the collapsed tunnel on Monday. This development brought a glimmer of hope to the families of those who were trapped inside. The experts at the accident site are hopeful that the trapped workers will be rescued within the next couple of hours.

NDMA Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain has stated that 58 meters of drilling have been completed, and another 2 meters lie between the rescue teams and the trapped workers. He further explained that once the distance is covered, it will require 3-4 hours to evacuate all the trapped workers, it would take approximately 3-5 minutes to extract each worker using a wheeled stretcher through the pipe.

The authorities have assured that all necessary security and safety precautions are being implemented for both the workers inside the Silkyara tunnel and those involved in the rescue operations.

Forty-one ambulances are positioned at the entrance of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel, prepared to transport workers to the nearest medical facility. A green corridor has been created for the speedy transportation of the rescued workers to the Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre, situated 30 km from the tunnel. To ensure unhindered ambulance access, the road leading to the tunnel is undergoing repairs with a fresh layer of soil. Security personnel are stationed around the tunnel, poised to implement the evacuation protocol as soon as the workers are brought out.