Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami honoured the ‘rat-hole miners’, on Thursday, who brought the 41 trapped workers out from the Silkayara tunnel on November 28, 17 days after the incident. CM Dhami felicitated the ‘Rat Miners’ and handed over cheques for Rs 50,000 each. He also praised the ‘Rat Miners’ for their role in saving the trapped workers’ lives.
Speaking on the occasion, CM Dhami said, “The rat-hole miners, deserve blessings for their dedication and hard work with which they had contributed, along with other agencies, in making this rescue operation successful”. He also expressed his gratitude to the Bravehearts on behalf of the state.
On November 12, an under-construction tunnel in Northern Uttarakhand collapsed trapping 41 workers. Help was also taken from abroad to rescue the trapped workers. The first in this was the American Auger machine. But in the end, after 17 days, the rescue operation was successful with the Rat-hole mining.
International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who came from Australia, also made an important contribution to the rescue operation. Now once again remembering the rescue operation, Dix taking to ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter wrote, “Many people asked me – why were you asked to help those miners (workers)? It took 59 years of my experience to prepare for the rescue of Silkyara.