Seepage and blocked drainage ail Tambakhani tunnel, alternate route turned into garbage dump

SURENDRA PAL SINGH | Uttarkashi

While the State government and local authorities focus on reacting to disasters, conditions which pose threats are being ignored, the locals complain.

The Tambakhani tunnel, said to be Uttarkashi district’s lifeline continues to suffer from seepage of water which worsens during the rains. In addition to the local travellers, lakhs of pilgrims use this tunnel during the Char Dham Yatra. Blocked drainage prevents the water from exiting the tunnel, which is posing problems for locals, especially pedestrians, while also raising anxiety about the condition of this important infrastructure. 

Local residents state that passing through the tunnel is a fearful experience which they have to undergo daily while the conditions also increase the risk of accidents for vehicle users even as the pedestrians struggle to walk through the sludge. Experts claim that the consistent seepage of water points towards technical flaws which should be addressed without delay.

When asked about the matter, the Uttarkashi municipality executive officer Shalini Chitran said that the municipality is responsible for cleaning of the tunnel while other departments are responsible for the technical aspects. Public Works Department executive engineer Rajnees Saini said that the Border Roads Organisation is responsible for the tunnel. He said that water seeps from the joints of the tunnel which is a normal process.

Stating that this is not a cause for worry, he said that the seepage will stop once the rains end. The correspondent called BRO commander Raj Kishore for his comments but he was unavailable.

Meanwhile, the older road used before the construction of the tunnel has now been turned into a garbage dump by the municipal authorities. The effluents from this garbage end up in the Bhagirathi river down the mountainside.

The residents of Joshiyada and Gyansu are struggling due to the stench from the heaps of garbage. The municipal officials state that three companies have been contracted for garbage disposal in Uttarkashi. Locals question the point of such contracts when the garbage is being dumped on the road against the law.