Rescuers have pulled out all 41 workers trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel after rat miners drilled through the debris, triggering jubilation. NDTV speaks to Akhilesh Singh, one of the workers who was trapped in the tunnel for 17 days.

As rescuers brought out 41 workers trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel for 17 days yesterday evening, they were greeted with wild cheers and flower garlands. With beaming smiles, the rescued men were welcomed as heroes after being hauled through 57 metres of steel pipe on stretchers specially fitted with wheels, where they were greeted by state officials before embracing their families.

Narrating the ordeal, one of the workers says that he was on his way home when the tunnel suddenly collapsed.

“The tunnel collapsed in front of me and there was a loud sound after which my ears went numb,” Akhilesh Singh, who was trapped in the tunnel, tells NDTV.  

“We had no contact from the outside world for 18 hours. As per our training, we opened a water pipe soon after we were trapped. When the water started falling, the people outside understood that there were people stuck and started sending us oxygen through that pipe,” he added.

Once the rescuers managed to insert a steel pipe through the debris, Mr Singh says that they were sent food through the day. So much so, that there is still enough food in the tunnel to last 25 days.

Mr Singh says that he now plans to go home and rest for at least 1-2 months.
 
“I plan to go home after the health checkups are done. I will then take a break for 1-2 months before deciding what to do next,” he says.

Situated about 30 km from Uttarkashi, the Silkyara tunnel is an integral part of the central government’s Char Dham all-weather road project, which will stretch for about 889 kilometers across the fragile Himalayan terrain.

A portion of the tunnel collapsed about 200 meters from the entrance on November 12, trapping the laborers working inside.

While the government has launched a safety audit of the tunnel after the incident, Akhilesh Singh said that it was an environmental disaster and no one could be blamed.

The 41 workers freed from the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel late Tuesday endured 17 days in an underground prison – a circumstance guaranteed to test the resolve of most and which called for a strong leader to help the men stay calm. That figure was Gabbar Singh Negi – who was born 260 km away in Pauri Garhwal district and had the unfortunate distinction of been in three collapsed tunnels.

Over the 400+ hours the men spent buried – nearly 200 feet in the ground – Mr Negi taught his colleagues yoga and meditation, ensured they stayed physically and mentally active, and underlined his commitment to their safety by telling them he would be the last to be rescued.

“‘I am senior-most… I will be the last to come out…’, this is what he told me,” a smiling and visibly relieved Jaymal Singh Negi, his brother, told NDTV Wednesday morning, hours after all 41 men were extracted and given extensive medical check-ups to ensure they had suffered no injuries.

READ | Trapped Workers Safe, Focus Now On What Led To Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse

That all 41 survived the disaster with few injuries, and emerged with big smiles, is due, in no small part, to the effort of Gabbar Negi in keeping a potentially catastrophic situation under control.

“I am very happy… the family is very happy. Not just the family but the whole country… the whole country prayed for them. When they came out and we saw they were safe, we distributed sweets and garlands,” Jaymal Negi, who has been at the tunnel collapse site for two weeks, told NDTV.

READ | “Will Go Home, Rest For 2 Months”: Rescued Worker Narrates 17-Day Ordeal

“I kept talking to him daily. First through the pipes they put into the ground but then with phones that they gave us. I advised my brother to do yoga. He said, ‘yes, we are all doing it’.” Mr Negi said.

With a big grin on his face, Jaymal Negi told NDTV of his brother’s bravery. “He is very brave. When I asked him if there will be a stampede when the rescue starts, he told me, ‘I am senior, I will be last’.”

“He told me they had made a list and that there will be order.”

And it isn’t just Jaymal Negi who has spoken in praise of his brother’s leadership qualities.

Several of the rescued workers NDTV spoke to highlighted Mr Negi’s role in keeping them safe and happy, which included playing games like ludo and chess. One of the psychiatrists at the site, Dr Rohit Gondwal, told news agency PTI the trapped workers were also playing ‘chor police’.

READ | “There’s Food For 25 Days Still Inside Tunnel”: Rescued Worker Exclusive

Mr Negi’s bravery was also commended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke to the rescued workers via telephone last night and told them, “It is a matter of happiness for me… I cannot express it in words. If something bad had happened… (I) can’t say how we would have taken that.”

The Prime Minister commended Mr Negi for his bravery.

One of the rescue workers, Akhilesh Singh, told NDTV he was on his way home when the tunnel collapsed; this was on November 12, as the rest of the country was busy celebrating Diwali.

READ | “Practised Yoga, Took Walks”: Rescued Workers Interact With PM

All 41 men were safely pulled out Tuesday night after “rat hole” miners – practitioners of a mining process banned by the government in 2014 because it is unsafe – did what high-tech drilling machines could not – break through the final 10-12 metres of rock and debris to free the workers.

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