Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: All trapped workers safe, rescue efforts underway; CM Dhami visits site
Uttarkashi (U'khand) (PTI): All 40 workers trapped after an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi are safe and communication has been established with them, officials said on Monday as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the site to oversee rescue operations.
Rescuers who worked overnight trying to prepare an escape passage for the labourers have provided them with food and water, the Silkyara police control room said.
A portion of the tunnel being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway caved in on Sunday morning.
VIDEO | Uttarakhand CM @pushkardhami arrives in Uttarkashi to take stock of situation after an under-construction tunnel on Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed yesterday, trapping nearly 40 workers. pic.twitter.com/Bt9LpU5TZg
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 13, 2023
According to the District Emergency Operation Centre, the labourers trapped inside the tunnel for over 24 hours now are from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The officials said attempts were being made to stabilise the constantly falling loose debris. A nearly 30-metre stretch of the tunnel, being built by the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), has been affected by the cave-in.
NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalko said loose debris hampering the rescue efforts was being stabilised using shotcrete a process involving spraying concrete.
VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: "Rescue operation is underway. The Prime Minister is also monitoring the situation regularly. We are trying the best to rescue those who are trapped," says Uttarakhand CM @pushkardhami.#Uttkarshitunnelcollapse pic.twitter.com/ZycjdKz7HC
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 13, 2023
Rescue efforts by personnel from multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), have been going on since Sunday morning.
Khalko said, "All the trapped labourers are safe. They have been contacted several times on walkie-talkie and edibles and drinking water have been supplied to them.
District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela went inside the tunnel on Monday morning to review the rescue efforts and discuss the strategy to save the labourers.
Dhami was accompanied by Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey as he arrived in Silkyara to assess the situation.
The officials are optimistic about the safety of the trapped labourers as enough oxygen was made available to them through a water pipeline.
VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: "Around 40 workers are trapped inside, but all of them are fine. At 12.30 am today, a contact was established with them. They are being provided food, water and oxygen using two pipes. We have a plan A, plan B and plan C to rescue them," says… pic.twitter.com/mAaI2IHZ5X
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 13, 2023
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
