Sunday, 19 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the rescue work in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi is going on at a war footing and the State government under guidance of the Union government is engaged in facilitating safe evacuation of the workers stranded in the tunnel. After his return from Rajasthan, the CM held a meeting with the senior officers of the State administration at his residence on Saturday and reviewed the situation. On a stern note the CM directed that every possible measure should be adopted to tackle the hindrances coming in the way of rescue of the workers. He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is taking regular updates on the rescue operation. The CM said that the officers should coordinate with the agencies on ground zero and provide the resources needed to the rescue team without any delay.
He said that the priority of the government is to safely evacuate the labourers in time. Dhami said that use of modern technology is being made in the rescue operation and expressed hope that the operation will succeed.
He averred that the government is standing with the families of the labourers stranded in the tunnel and directed the officers that they should regularly update them about the progress of the rescue mission. Dhami said that a help centre should be opened for the relatives of the labourers in Silkyara. He said that in order to deal with the Silkyara tunnel disaster the rescue operation is being done by taking help of the past experiences from similar tunnel collapses in the country and abroad. Dhami said that the officers are adopting techniques used in rescue of tunnel disasters that happened in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and different parts of the world in the past. The CM said that information is being gathered on the construction of Peer Panjal, Atal tunnel, Bhanwar Tonk and Sangaldan tunnels and rescue works after fall of debris in them.
The meeting was attended by additional chief secretary Radha Raturi, special principal secretary Abhinav Kumar, secretary to CM, Shailesh Bagauli, Garhwal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, additional director general of police (Law and Order) AP Anshuman, director general of Information Banshidhar Tiwari and others.
