Yogi meets eight UP workers rescued from Silkyara tunnel
CM inquired about the well-being of workers, heard about their experiences during the challenging time when they were trapped in the tunnel and greeted them by offering shawls and gifts
LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday met eight workers who were among the 41 safely rescued from the partially collapsed Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand. He inquired about the well-being of the workers, heard about their experiences during the challenging time when they were trapped in the tunnel and greeted them by offering shawls and gifts.
The eight workers arrived in Lucknow via road from AIIMS Rishikesh. All 41 workers who were trapped inside Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel since November 12 were evacuated safely on November 28. After being kept under medical observation for a night at the community health centre at Chinyalisaur, they were airlifted on Wednesday to AIIMS, Rishikesh.
Ankit (25), Ram Milan (32), Satyadev (44), Santosh (24), Jai Prakash (22), Ram Sunder (26) -- all of Shravasti district -- Manjit (22) of Lakhimpur Kheri and Akhilesh Kumar (32) of Mirzapur district were among those who met the chief minister at his official residence here.
During this interaction, Adityanath praised the courage and patience of all the workers. “I am happy that all the workers from Uttar Pradesh trapped in the tunnel have safely returned and are now going back to their homes. The state government stands with its people in difficult times and will continue to do so,” he said.
On the direction of the CM, a nodal officer was appointed by the state government for real-time information about the condition of workers and their families were updated daily about their situation. The CM monitored the situation and rescue operations on a daily basis.
During the meeting, one of the workers Akhilesh said: “When the incident occurred, we realised that there was some damage to the oxygen pipe. As we moved inside the tunnel, we saw debris coming from the front.” He explained that the place where the workers were trapped had a tunnel length of 2.5 kilometers and a width of 14 metres.
“There was enough oxygen in the tunnel for us to survive for two-three days, and the rest of the assistance was provided by the company and the government,” he added.
He said had the food, water and oxygen supply from outside stopped, the workers’ lives would have been in danger. The workers said both the company and the government ensured there was no power outage inside the tunnel.
“When an officer from the state government contacted us, we realised that not only the Indian government, but the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were also determined to rescue us,” he said.
“Meeting the CM was a great experience…the way he uplifted our morale is profoundly motivating,” said Jai Prakash from Shravasti.
Manjeet from Lakhimpur Kheri said: “Meeting with the Chief Minister was a very pleasant experience. I never thought that one day I would have the opportunity to meet the CM”.
Akhilesh Kumar from Mirzapur also expressed happiness and gratitude over the efforts made by the UP government for the workers’ safe return.
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