Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue: Rat-Hole Miners Recall Emotional Scenes After Reaching Trapped Workers
When the most advanced heavy-duty auger machines failed, the good old human hands got the job done by drilling through the rubble to reach the 41 construction workers trapped inside the?Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi?on Tuesday evening.
A team of 12 rat-hole mining experts from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi were tasked to drill the final few meters of rubble to create the escape path for the 41 men stuck in the tunnel since November 12.
How the rat hole miners reached trapped workers?
Feroze Qureshi, a resident of Delhi's Khajoori Khas, was the first to reach them on Tuesday evening.
"They (the labourers) could hear us when we reached the last portion of the rubble. Soon after removing the rubble, we got down to the other side," Qureshi said.
"The labourers thanked and hugged me. They also lifted me on their shoulders," he said, adding that he was happier than the rescued workers.
"They (the labourers) gave me almonds and asked my name. Soon, our other colleagues joined us, and we were there for about half an hour," Kumar, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, said.
He said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel went inside the tunnel after them. "We came back only after the NDRF personnel arrived," Kumar said.
"We are very happy that we were part of this historic operation," he added.
How trapped workers reacted
Vakeel Hasan, who led the team of rat-hole miners, recalled the moment.
"It was a very emotional feeling when we saw them and they saw us. It was like a person getting some water on a deserted land. It was like everyone accomplished their purposes. We fulfilled the commitment that we made... All the workers came out of the tunnel without a scratch..." Hasan said.
What is rat hole mining??
Rat hole mining involves digging very small tunnels through which skilled workers enter and extract coal or debris.
"We installed a pipe till 18 meters... Munna and I are partners, and the other 10 are workers... actually, we had to dig for 15 meters, but when we couldn't reach the workers, we dug three more meters...In the pipe, we started the 'chuha boring' technique- this is the same way a rat digs the soil. The way it pushes the soils behind it and then proceeds, this is the same technique," Hasan added.
Munna, Vakeel Hasan's partner, said that the trapped workers were hugely relieved and showered them with love when they saw them for the first time.
"When four of my workers went inside the tunnel where the workers were trapped, the labourers asked them to call me, and when I reached there, they asked me what I wanted. As soon as they saw me, they showered all their love to me and asked whether I wanted their lives, money, or the position of God. I said that I only need your love," Munna said.
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