West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government has rushed a team to Uttarkashi to help the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel.
In a post on social media platform X, the chief minister said 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.
Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operations LIVE coverage
“The team further includes: Shubhabrata Pramanick: Mobile 8981200471. Somnath Chakraborty: Mobile 8130258750. Raju Kumar Sinha: Mobile 9968732695,” Banerjee added.
“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,” the chief minister said.
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‘3-4 hours to evacuate workers’: NDMA
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that the rescue operations are near a breakthrough as the pipe has to be pushed for another two metres to reach the 41 workers.
NDMA Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said that 58 metres of drilling has been done, and the rescue pipe has to be pushed towards the trapped workers by another two meters.
ALSO READ: These are the trapped workers in Silkyara tunnel. Full list
“We are near a breakthrough but not yet there,” he said.
Once the breakthrough is achieved, it would take 3-4 hours to bring out all the trapped workers, Lt Gen Hasnain added, saying it would take about 3-5 minutes to pull out each worker on a wheeled stretcher through the pipe.
He also said that rat miners did a phenomenal job by digging 10 metres in less than 24 hours.
Hasnain said all security and safety precautions are being taken for workers trapped inside Silkyara tunnel and for those engaged in rescue operations.
