Odisha Labour Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak will visit Uttarakhand where the labourers have been trapped in an under-construction tunnel for two weeks.
A special team from Odisha including the Minister will review the rescue operation that is underway at the tunnel.
Being sent by the Odisha Government, the family members of Odia workers will also reach Uttarkashi district where the incident occurred. The State Government decided to send the Odia labourers’ family members after the latter met 5T Chairman VK Pandian at the Naveen Niwas and expressed their anxiety about the fate of their kin.
Speaking to reporters, Minister Nayak said the trapped labourers should not be described as ‘Dadan’.
“Those who migrate outside the State for work are approved by the government. Many labourers from other States are also engaged here in Odisha. It will be mistaken to term them as Dadan. Our department is aware of it. We have generated employment in the State under various schemes,” Nayak said.
Five workers from Odisha among a total of 41 have been trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel. The labourers from Odisha are Dhiren Nayak of Badakudar and Bisweswar Nayak of Jogibandh in Mayurbhanj district, Raju Nayak from Kuldiha in Baleswar, Bhagaban Bhotra of Nabarangpur and Tapan Mandal of Bhadrak district. They are trapped in the tunnel after a portion of the tunnel collapsed 14 days back.
According to reports, the Odisha labourers were employed at the site by the Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd, which is implementing the Silkyara tunnel work for National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited.