‘Your Courage & Patience Is Inspiring’: PM Modi Speaks to Workers Rescued From Uttarakhand Tunnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami after all 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarkashi for 16 days were safely rescued.

The Prime Minister also talked to rescued workers on the phone following the completion of the rescue mission.

In a post on X, he praised the courage and patience of the trapped workers and wished them good health.

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“The success of the rescue operation of our workers in Uttarkashi is making everyone emotional. I want to say to the friends who were trapped in the tunnel that your courage and patience is inspiring everyone. I wish you all well and good health. It is a matter of great satisfaction that after a long wait, these friends of ours will now meet their loved ones. The patience and courage that all these families have shown in this challenging time cannot be appreciated enough,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

PM Modi also heaped praises on people associated with the rescue operation and said their bravery and determination have given a new life to our workers.

“I also salute the spirit of all the people associated with this rescue operation. Their bravery and determination have given a new life to our workers. Everyone involved in this mission has set an amazing example of humanity and teamwork,” he added.

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Dhami said PM Modi was constantly in touch with him and was taking updates on the rescue operation. “He gave me the duty to rescue everyone safely anyhow.. without his support, this wouldn’t have been possible. He spoke to me just now and instructed that medical check-ups of everyone must be done… and facilities must be done to take them to their homes…,” the CM added.

After 17 days of an intense rescue operation — clocking more than 400 hours, delayed by a series of snags and overshadowed by equal parts hope and despair — all 41 trapped workers were finally pulled out of the collapsed part of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi on Tuesday.

The rescue team had a breakthrough when it managed to drill through the 60-metre stretch of rubble a little after 1.30 pm, using the rat-hole mining technique. Less than an hour later, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the process of laying the escape pipe into the drilled passage was complete.

Multiple agencies from state and central governments had been working day and night since November 12 when a part of an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi connecting Silkyara to Dandalgaon collapsed, trapping 41 workers inside.