Teamwork makes dreams work! Meet TEAM behind rescue operations who saved the lives of 41 trapped workers from Silkyara tunnel

The Uttarakhand tunnel rescue mission came to an end after the rescue teams achieved a breakthrough and saved the lives of the 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel for almost 17 days.

NewsBharati    29-Nov-2023 10:24:58 AM
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The Uttarakhand tunnel rescue mission came to an end after the rescue teams achieved a breakthrough and saved the lives of the 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel for almost 17 days.
 
 
rescue teams uttarakhand tunnel collapse
 
Along with several teams, few people played a major role in the rescue mission of the 41 trapped workers. Here is a look inside the rescue team of the Silkyara tunnel rescue mission. 
 
1. NDRF - The last intervention that took place in the rescue operation was a joint operation from NDRF and SDRF. The NDRF personnel called it one of the biggest operations in the history of India. After the rescue mission was successful, they congratulated each other for their coordinated efforts and shared slices of cake.
 
 
2. Indian Army - A unit consisting of over 30 personnel of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army were involved in this mission.
 
 
3. Border Roads Organisation - BRO was the nodal agency to coordinate between various agencies that got involved in the operations to rescue the trapped workers. It immediately involved in the planning and execution of the side draft near the site. Another important task BRO was entrusted with was the transportation of the American Auger Machine to the site. Ir coordinated its move from Delhi to Dehradun and to the site at Silkiyara and ensured the same became functional at the site by 15 November.
 
 
 
4. Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd), member, NDRF - Retired Lieutenant General of the Indian Army and member of the NDMA team Syed Ata Hasnain was overseeing the role of the National Disaster Management Authority in the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse. Lt Gen Hasnain was formerly a member of the GOC 15 corps of the Indian Army, deployed in Srinagar.
 
 
5. Arnold Dix, Tunnelling Expert - Scientific researcher and underground tunnelling expert Arnold Dix was on the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse rescue site since the first few days, supervising the use of the American auger for horizontal drilling of the tunnel. He also conducted an inspection of the rescue site to know the most efficient way for the extraction of the 41 trapped workers.
 
 
6. Chris Cooper, Micro Mining Expert- Chris Cooper is a micro-tunnelling expert with decades of experience, who arrived at the site of the tunnel collapse on November 18. Cooper is a Chartered Engineer with specialisation in civil engineering infrastructure, Metro tunnels, Large Caverns, Dams, Railway, and Mining Projects. He is also the international consultant for the Rishikesh Karnprayag rail project.
 
 
7. Rat hole mining experts - Twelve rat hole mining experts were flown in to oversee the process of micro-tunnelling, manual drilling and conducting the rescue through the narrow 800 mm pipe, laid down to pull out the trapped workers.
 
 
8. Healthcare - Ambulances were lined up at the mouth of the tunnel to rush the rescued workers to the community health centre about 30 kilometres away, after the initial checkup at the site. A stretch of mud road was re-laid to make the passage of ambulances easier. Stretchers were taken inside the mouth of the tunnel. A special ward with 41 oxygen-supported beds was readied days earlier at the community health centre in Chinyalisaur, about 30 km from Silkyara. Doctors were on standby and arrangements were made to fly the workers to more advanced hospitals if needed.
Uttarakhand Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue Silkyara tunnel Silkyara NDRF Indian Army Border Roads Organisation BRO Rat hole mining experts Chris Cooper Arnold Dix