Bhubaneswar: Expressing concern for several Odia workers who were trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik prayed for safe and speedy rescue of the labourers.
Talking to X (formerly known as twitter), the Chief Minister said, “Deeply concerned to know that several workers including workers from #Odisha have been trapped following collapse of an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi, #Uttarakhand. Praying for the safe and speedy rescue of all the workers.”
As per reports, at least five persons from Odisha are among the 40-workers who have been trapped after an under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district collapsed on Sunday. Efforts are on to rescue all the trapped workers by NDRF, SDRF, and the local police.
The trapped workers from Odisha have been identified as Tapan Mandal from Sankarshanpur, Bhagaban Batra from Nabarangpur, Bisweswar Nayak from Mayurbhanj, Raju Naik from Mayurbhanj and Dhiren from Badakudar while other workers trapped inside the tunnel are mostly from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, the reports said.
The Uttarakhand government officials said that all the 40 workers are safe and being supplied with oxygen through a pipe. Rescue officials are sending water and food items.
As per the reports, heavy excavator machines have been mobilised to remove the debris inside the 13-metre-wide tunnel and an escape passage is being created to reach the trapped workers.
It is worth mentioning here that a portion of the tunnel, which is a part of the Char Dham project and will connect Silkyara to Dangalgaon, collapsed on Sunday.
