All 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel were rescued on Tuesday after almost 17 days of intense efforts

The 41 workmen who had been saved from the collapsing Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi arrived in Rishikesh on Wednesday, where they will have medical examinations at AIIMS.

On November 12, a landslip caused the Silkyara tunnel, which was a component of the Center's large-scale Char Dham project, to collapse. Around 7:00 p.m., professionals in rat-hole mining managed to break through the final section of debris. One by one, the stranded workers were removed from the steel chute by a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force, Assam (SDRF), who had entered it to reach them.

After a section collapsed on November 12, trapping 41 people inside, the tunnel under construction was closed off. A team of specialists in rat-hole mining took on the last task in the rescue mission, which usually included tunnelling down tight burrows to retrieve little quantities of coal. Following a string of mishaps in which its blades ran into obstacles such as iron girders, a massive auger boring machine manufactured in the United States became trapped in the horizontal tunnel that had been excavated to a depth of around 47 metres. This required them to do manual drilling.

Five more options were prepared by officials in case the access via the area of rubble proved unsuccessful. Among them was excavating 86 metres below the tunnel's surface. The vertical shaft reached 45 metres by Tuesday. Hand-held tools at the end of the 800-mm wide steel pipe were used by the rat-hole mining professionals as they worked in groups of two or three at a time in the cramped location. For the last effort at rescue, the NDRF staff entered.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who witnessed the whole rescue operation in real time during his Cabinet meeting, became emotional, as soon as the workers were safely removed.

The Prime Minister also praised the operation's success, saying that all those participating had produced a remarkable demonstration of humanity and cooperation. Modi also called the rescued construction workers to check on their well-being. Speaking to the 41 rescued employees, Modi congratulated them health and well-being and stated that their bravery and perseverance had inspired everyone. "It is a matter of great satisfaction that these friends of ours will meet their dear ones after a long wait," Modi stated.

Modi praised the attitude of those engaged in the operation and stated that their bravery and commitment had given the 41 labourers a new lease on life in a post on X shortly after the workers were pulled out of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi.

The trapped workers came out of the Uttarkashi tunnel on Tuesday, some of them joyful, others looking tired and thankful that the rescue effort had reached a breakthrough point. As the ambulances carrying the workers to community health centres were being met by residents along streets, there were loud applause and chants outside the tunnel. In the meanwhile, tearful reunions between the workers and worried families who had been sleeping nearby followed days of uncertainty.

Following the successful rescue, the workers' families returned home and distributed "laddoos." Many claimed to have been riveted to their phones and televisions as soon as word of the rescue broke.