Silkyara tunnel: Prime Minister's Office made sure everything went according to plan

NEW DELHI: The massive operation launched to evacuate the 41 trapped labourers from the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand was coordinated by the Prime Minister's Office. The PMO made sure that everything went according to plan and its quick intervention in smoothening bureaucratic glitches hastened the evacuation process. As many national and state agencies were involved, the PMO, as the main driver of the operation, ensured that everything went on like clockwork.

While principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi, PK Mishra, monitored the operation, Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the PMO, was at Silkyara and stayed there till the mission ended. Accompanied by Khulbe, deputy secretary in the PMO, Mangesh Ghildiyal, reached the site on November 17. Mishra also visited the tunnel collapse site on November 27.

"We were able to bring several agencies and achieved coordination in such a manner that rescue operations could be carried out effectively with the best possible solutions. The decision to bring the auger machine was important. Apart from the rat-mining technology, the gas welders played a very important role in withdrawing parts of the auger machine which had broken in a less oxygen environment and in removing the debris from the pipe and the areas ahead," Khulbe told ET.


As part of the coordination exercise, all agencies, technical experts, various government departments and geologists held a high-level meeting on November 18 in the presence of Khulbe and Ghildiyal.

They worked out five plans - vertical drilling from top, construction of a 170-m perpendicular tunnel at Silkyara end, making a tunnel from the Barkot end, strengthening the tunnel and boring a hole near the Silkyara end. It did not take time for selecting the agencies like SJVNL, RVNL, ONGC, BRO and NHIDCL for quick implantation of the plans. All plans were implemented simultaneously. Heavy equipment and machinery reached the site in record time.

A new auger machine was brought from Indore to Silkyara with the help of IAF helicopters on November 18 evening for horizontal drilling. "Through WhatsApp groups, decisions were shared with all top government officials and top authorities of government agencies. There was no need to make repeated calls," a source in the Uttarakhand government said.

A camp office of Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami was set up at Malti village to avoid any delay in getting local support. The PMO also swung into action after the auger machine, which was broken, remained stuck in the pushed pipes. Laser and plasma cutters were soon brought to the site. The rat miners also did a wonderful job in drilling the rest 12 m in record time, resulting in the safe evacuation of the labourers.