Construction At Silkyara Tunnel, Where 41 Workers Were Trapped, To Resume After Safety Audit
The construction works at the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, for the Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana will resume soon after a safety audit is conducted.
According to the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), an audit on what led to the tunnel's collapse?on November 12 will be conducted, and the final report is expected in a week.
Why safety audit is important?
Uttarakhand government has also formed a six-member expert committee to study the causes of the collapse.
Earlier, following the tunnel's collapse, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced that safety audits of all under-construction road tunnels in the country would be carried out.
What could have caused the tunnel collapse
Zojila Tunnel Project Head Harpal Singh said there could be several possible reasons for the collapse of the Silkyara tunnel.
"These could be poor geological investigation, under-designed ground support systems, mistakes during construction, poor data monitoring and mitigation measures during construction or poor supervision control," he explained.
Singh believed that "all highway and rail tunnels should be planned with an escape tunnel parallel to the main tunnel".
Why Uttarakhand can't abandon the project
On Wednesday, a day after the 41 trapped construction workers were evacuated, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami?hinted that the Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel project will go ahead, saying "development is also important."
"We have to strike a balance between ecology and economy. There are many such projects in the state which are progressing. The development of the state is also important while keeping in view the nature of the state," CM Dhami had said.
Why the Silkyara-Barkot Tunnel is important?
There is so much at stake for the 4.531 km long two-lane Bi-Directional Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity to Yamunotri, one of the Dham on Chardham Yatra.
The Rs 12,000-crore Char Dham All Weather Road Project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns in Uttarakhand: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath.
What environmentalists say
But ever since the 825-km Char Dham Yatra All Weather Road was announced, environmentalists have red-flagged several issues with the massive construction work, cutting through the hills on one of the most ecologically fragile zones in the country.
A 2019 report headed by veteran environmentalist Ravi Chopra described the Char Dham project -- an ongoing road project that will connect the four important pilgrim towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri -- as "an assault on the Himalayas".
The committee recommended limiting the width of the road to 5.5 metres on the Char Dham project. However, in December 2021, the Supreme Court, in its order, allowed the road width to be increased to 10 metres.
The Supreme Court allowed double-lane widening of the Char Dham highway project in Uttarakhand, observing that the country's security concerns may change over time and the recent past has thrown serious national security challenges.
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