Uttarakhand tunnel crisis: Families protest after machine breaks down in tunnel rescue

At least 40 workers have been trapped inside the collapsed tunnel for days

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, centre, and Union Minister VK Singh, right, give a garland to a rescued worker who had been trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarkashi, India. AFP

A construction worker is greeted by Mr Singh and Mr Singh Dhami following his rescue. AFP

Mr Singh Dhami embraces a construction worker following his rescue. AFP

The workers were trapped after a section of the tunnel collapsed in India's Uttarakhand state. AFP

An ambulance carries survivors to hospital as rescuers work to bring out the trapped men. Reuters

Ambulances wait in line during rescue operations to save workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel. Reuters

Disaster Response personnel wait to enter the tunnel in Uttarkashi where 41 workers were trapped. Reuters

Paramedics on standby near the road tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway. AFP

Rescue personnel enter the tunnel, which collapsed during construction work on November 12. AFP

Security staff wait as the rescue operation enters its final phase. AFP

A labourer trapped inside the tunnel. Reuters

A rescuer using a drill to burrow through the rock and debris trapping the workers. AFP

A father of one of the trapped construction workers with a picture of his son. AFP

Construction workers protest at the authorities' delayed response to rescue their colleagues trapped in the tunnel. EPA

A digger works on the mountainside where the road tunnel collapsed. AP

Observers watch rescue work at the site. AP

Colleagues of the trapped workers wait for news. EPA

A drilling machine arriving at the site of the tunnel collapse. EPA

Workers protest against the slow pace of the rescue after the tunnel collapse. AFP

People watch rescue and relief operations at the site of the tunnel collapse. AP

Families and colleagues of the trapped workers have waited at the site for weeks. AP

An excavator entering the tunnel following the collapse. EPA

Indian police at the site of the tunnel collapse. EPA

Rescuers with a drilling tool inside the collapsed road tunnel. AP

This handout photo taken on November 13, 2023, and released by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) shows rescue workers at the site after a tunnel collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state. More than a hundred rescuers in northern India struggled for a third day on November 14 to save workers trapped underground after the road tunnel they were building collapsed. (Photo by State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Protests broke out in India’s Uttarkhand state, where emergency workers are making efforts to rescue at least 40 workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel for more than 78 hours.

The demonstrations began after the main machine being used to dig through the rubble to reach the workers broke down.

Authorities were using an auger machine to drill and insert steel pipes into the rubble to create a passage for the workers on Tuesday.

But the machine broke down after a pipe was inserted through two metres but hit a boulder inside the tunnel.

It caused another landslide further hampering the rescue work because of debris and mud.

The 4.5-kilometre tunnel that collapsed was being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon, to connect two of the holiest Hindu shrines in the state at Uttarkashi and Yamunotri.

TV footage showed angry protesters – family members and workers from the construction company – gathered outside the site and clashing with the authorities and rescue workers.

They accused authorities of being lax and failing to provide a back-up machine.

“We had been calm and patient for the last five days but what is the administration doing? Nothing? No work. They are doing a formality. They’re lying to us,” one of the protesters said amid chants of “evacuate our people”.

Luv Kumar Rathori, another worker, said: “Every day, they tell us that they’ll evacuate them today. They are hungry, starving.”

The accident took place early morning on Sunday when a group of workers was heading out of the tunnel and others about to start their shift were going in.

Initial reports said the collapse was caused by a landslide but an investigation is under way.

The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, the agency engaged in building the tunnel, said new machines were being flown in to speed up the rescue work.

“Another high-power drilling machine is being airlifted from New Delhi to the nearby Air Force base. All the arrangements at site are being done and the high-power machine will be installed at the earliest,” the agency said.

Emergency workers were removing the piled debris using excavators in a nearly 55-metre stretch for the first two days but it was challenging as more debris was falling from the roof of the collapsed tunnel.

The tunnel is a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham project, to improve connectivity to four Hindu pilgrimage sites in the state.

Nestled in the lap of the Himalayas, Uttarakhand is known for its natural beauty and houses dozens of major Hindu temples. It is a popular tourist destination.

However, the ecologically sensitive region has been facing the brunt of climate change and rampant construction.

The state was hit by floods in 2013 that devastated Kedarnath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, killing more than 5,700 people. A glacial lake burst in 2021, causing a flash flood at a hydropower project construction site that killed more than 200.

About 50 people were killed this summer after unprecedented heavy rain caused flash flooding and landslides.