New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to meet the resilient rat miners who overcame the final hurdle to rescue the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel for 17 days.CM Kejriwal will meet these rat miners at his residence today at 4 pm.
Among the 12-member team who saved 41 workers by digging through the final 15 metres of debris in the Uttarkashi Tunnel rescue are the workers laying pipeline, sewer for the Delhi Jal Board who live in Delhi.
When heavy machinery broke down in an effort to drill through the debris that had trapped 41 workers in the Silkyara tunnel, the rescuers resorted to rat-hole mining, a banned practice in the country.Rat hole mining involves digging of very small tunnels, through which skilled workers enter and extract coal or debris.
Rat mining rescue team leader Vakeel Hasan while recounting his memories of the moment when the team of the miners saw the workers, said that it was like offering water to the person who is about to die with thirst.
"It was a very emotional feeling when we saw them and they saw us. It was like a person getting some water on a deserted land. It was like everyone accomplished their purposes. We fulfilled the commitment that we made... All the workers came out of the tunnel without a scratch" Hassan told ANI after the successful rescue.
Rat-hole miners emerged as the heroes as they drilled with their hands to safely evacuate all workers The miners had installed a pipe to 18 meters to reach the trapped miners.
"We installed a pipe till 18 meters... Munna and I are partners, and the other 10 are workers... actually, we had to dig for 15 meters but when we couldn't reach the workers, we dug more three meters....In the pipe, we started the 'chuha boring' technique- this is the same way, a rat digs the soil. The way it pushes the soils behind it and then proceeds, this is the same technique," Hasan Vakeel hassan had told ANI.
Rat-mining method has faced severe criticism due to its hazardous working conditions and numerous accidents leading to injuries and fatalities. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the practice in 2014 and retained the ban in 2015.
The 41 workers had been trapped since November 12 when the part of the tunnel they were helping to construct in Uttarakhand gave way, blocking their only exit with more than 60 meters of broken rock, concrete, and twisted metal.
The first workers were brought out following a series of agonizing setbacks, during which rescue efforts were halted when the heavy drill meant to break through the debris broke down, forcing workers to adopt riskier methods.