Trapped for nine days, two workers were on Monday safely pulled out of the rubble of a partially collapsed under-construction tunnel in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh by rescue teams ending their ordeal amid scenes of jubilation.
Search operations continued for the third worker who is still suspected stuck under the debris of the collapsed tunnel.
Surviving the ordeal, the rescued workers identified as Mani Ram and Satish Tomar were in good health, according to NDRF officials. TV visuals showed the first man, who was brought out, in good health as he waved at his saviours.
Rescuers flashed the victory sign and screamed in jubilation after the two were brought out from the narrow and dark tunnel.
“We have rescued two of the three workers who were trapped in the tunnel for over a week. Beginning this morning our teams have also begun a horizontal drilling operation to see through the debris and find the third worker whom we suspect is trapped somewhere there,” NDRF Director General OP Singh, who is monitoring the rescue operation from New Delhi, said.
However, there has been no communication with the third worker identified as Hriday Ram.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the operation would not stop until the third labourer is traced.
The flawless rescue operation by the men of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) came a day after incessant rains lashed the mishap site and a snag developed in the heavy rig that was drilling through to rescue the trapped.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) played an important role in drilling the shaft despite technical snags and rain.
BRO’s director (tunnels) R.S. Rao, who is looking after the Rohtang tunnel project, was camping at the site to oversee the rescue operation.
The contract for tunnel laying, involving an outlay of Rs.82 crore, has been assigned to the Chandigarh-based Himalayan Construction Co, three of whose workers, belonging to the hill state, were trapped.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the operation would not stop until the third labourer is traced.
“I hope and pray for the well-being of Hriday Ram, the third labourer who is still missing,” he said in a statement.
The workers were trapped inside tunnel No 4 of Kiratpur-Nerchowk four-lane project near Bilaspur when a portion of it collapsed on September 12.
The drilling of 1.2 m diameter tunnel to reach the trapped persons was almost complete and less than 1 m of drilling was left when the heavy drilling rig developed a snag last night, warranting replacement of a part of the drill and the operations were suspended.
The rescuers, earlier, had also established communication with two of the three trapped labourers through digital cameras and microphones after hours of digging.
A 45-member NDRF team, with three specially chosen men in the lead, has been working in the operation for days now.
Food and water had been supplied to the trapped workers through a 47 m and 4-inch diameter bore.
OP Singh said the biggest challenge for his rescue team was to effectively tackle loose rocks and seepage that was occuring in the narrow approach to the main part of the tunnel.
“It was a very risky and long operation as our rescuers were totally exposed to loose rocks. We later used casing pipes to thwart this problem but it could only be done for a small length. The boys did a great job under challenging circumstances,” he said.
“It was a tough operation as when we went down the tunnel in the first attempt it was not adequate. We are now looking for the third person and our operation is going on,” an NDRF commander at the spot said.
Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Manasi Sahay, also present on the spot, said the operation was not yet over as the teams were looking for the third person.
“Why should I lose hopeIJ We are trying our best to locate and rescue the third worker,” she told reporters.
Mani Ram was first to be taken out through the 47 m deep and 1.2 m diameter tunnel after 211 hours and 47 minutes followed by Satish Tomar who came out eight minutes later.
The three employees of Himalayan Construction Company (HCC) were trapped at Tehri, 13 km from Bilaspur, on the night of September 12 and round the clock rescue operations were conducted by engineers of HCC, SJVNl, HP Power Corporation, NHAI, NDRF and the district administration.
Both Tomar and Ram were in high spirits and waved to the people and were taken to hospital in the ambulance along with a team of doctors.
They wore goggles as sudden exposure to light after nine days in a dark and dingy tunnel could have caused damage to eyes.
Three NDRF team members, including a sub-inspector, entered the main tunnel but could not reach the trapped employees as the tunnel was not wide enough and was zig-zag. The rescue operations were again impeded and finally the tunnel had to be widened to bring out the trapped persons.
Further the water level in the tunnel was rising and pumps were deployed to drain out the water before taking the final leap.
The rescue managers decided not to put the thin iron coating and took extra precautions to ensure no injury was caused while taking out the trapped persons from the tunnel.
The construction company had completed work up to 275 m of the 1.4-km-long tunnel and the employees were trapped at 70 m from the entry point. The tragedy struck at the time of change of evening shift and only three employees were in the tunnel otherwise number of persons trapped in the tunnel could be between 20 and 25.
“It was a massive operation and we had put all our resources and sought help from Border Roads Organisation, National Highway Authority of India, Army, SJVN, HPPCl and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and finally two employees have been saved,” said DD Sharma, Special Secretary(Disaster Management and revenue).