‘Drank water from rocks’: Life inside Uttarakhand tunnel

India moved mountains to rescue the 41 trapped labourers inside Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel. And after 17 days, 400 hours and the combined efforts of hundreds of people, they are now recuperating and returning home to rest after their ordeal. While there are concerns about their mental health – experts have flagged the matter of post-traumatic stress disorder – the workers themselves seemed upbeat and happy to be out of the small, confined space. But what was life like inside the tunnel? How did the 41 labourers, who were trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel, spend their time? And what are their plans for the future.

Strolling, playing ludo and more On 12 November, while the country celebrated Diwali, 41 workers were blocked inside the under-construction Silkyara tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route when tragedy struck the spot. Following the incident, authorities were pressed into action in order to rescue them from the tunnel. However, the operations kept suffering setbacks, delaying the rescue and forcing the workers to remain inside. So, how did they manage their time? One of the 41 workers in a 15-minute phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined how they kept their morale up inside the collapsed tunnel. Saba Ahmed, hailing from Bihar, said to the PM that though they were stuck in the tunnel for days, they did not feel any fear or nervousness. “We were like brothers, we were together. We used to take a stroll in the tunnel after dinner. I used to tell them to do morning walks and yoga.” He added that the workers would take walks along the 2-km stretch of the tunnel in which they were trapped and practised yoga. [caption id=“attachment_13444572” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A police member looks on from an ambulance that carries survivors in Uttarkashi. On Tuesday, the 17-day ordeal of the workers came to an end when they were pulled out of the tunnel. Reuters[/caption] Chamra Oraon, a 32-year-old resident of Jharkhand’s Khunti district, also shared his experience of being trapped inside the tunnel for more than 400 hours. He told Indian Express that he played ludo on his phone to spend his time. He added that when the first parcel of puffed rice and cardamom seeds were sent to them by the rescue authorities, he felt elated and overjoyed. “When we ate the first morsel, we felt someone above had reached out to us; we were overjoyed. We were assured we would be rescued, but needed to pass the time. So we immersed ourselves in ludo on the phone, which we could charge with the supply provided to us, though we couldn’t call anyone since there was no network. We spoke among ourselves and got to know each other.”

Also read: _The heroic men behind the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue mission_ _Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: The big role played by Narendra Modi, PMO_

Expressing similar sentiments, Vishal, another worker who was pulled out of the tunnel and subsequently returned home to Bangot village of Mandi district, said, “We never lost hope.” “The initial few hours were difficult because we felt suffocated. But soon after, contact was made with people outside and everything slowly became normal,” he told media persons. Vishwajeet Kumar Verma, one of the trapped workers, speaking to ANI, said: “When the debris fell, we knew that we were stuck. For the first 10-15 hours we faced difficulty.”

#WATCH | First exclusive byte of rescued worker, Vishwajeet Kumar Verma, who narrates his 17-day ordeal of being trapped in the Silkyara tunnel

"When the debris fell, we knew that we were stuck. For the first 10-15 hours we faced difficulty. But later, a pipe was put in to… pic.twitter.com/65X4afMVvB

— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2023

Anil Bediya, another one of the rescued labourers, also described life inside the tunnel. He recounted the initial horror when a portion of the Silkyara tunnel. “Loud shrieks punctuated the air…We all thought we would be buried inside the tunnel and had lost all hope during the first couple of days.” He added, “It was a nightmarish ordeal…we licked water dripping from rocks to quench our thirst and survived on muri (puffed rice) for the first 10 days.” Earlier there were also reports that the trapped workers were playing cricket inside the tunnel to spend their time. Arnold Dix, known for his expertise in tunnel engineering and rescue operations, had said earlier, “I might have heard they are playing cricket.” He said the situation improved after the first 10 days after supplies like fruits and hot meals were supplied along with medicines. [caption id=“attachment_13444582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Rescued workers admitted at a community health centre at Chinyalisaur after their successful evacuation from the under-construction Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel, in Uttarkashi district. PTI[/caption] Future plans for workers It was a moment of elation on Tuesday night as the 41 workers started being pulled out of the tunnel. ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’ rung out loud in the air at the tunnel as people celebrated the mission’s success.

#WATCH | Rescued worker gives a thumbs up the moment he comes out of the rescue pipe after being trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel for 17 days pic.twitter.com/C4RNOOa61m

— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2023

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But now that they have survived the ordeal and recovering, what are their plans for the future? Oraon hasn’t taken any decisions about the future. He told the Indian Express that only “time will tell” whether or not he returns. Another worker, identified as Vijay Horo, from Jharkhand told the media that his family didn’t want him to travel outside the state anymore. Akhilesh Singh, who was trapped in the tunnel, echoed similar sentiments. He told NDTV, “I plan to go home after the health check-ups are done. I will then take a break for one-two months before deciding what to do next,” he said. With inputs from agencies