Tunnel collapse: MoS VK Singh prays to local deity for success in rescue efforts

Tunnel collapse: MoS VK Singh prays to local deity for success in rescue efforts

Seeking divine intervention, Minister of State General V K Singh on Monday paid obeisance to local deity Baba Baukhnath before heading to the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand where 41 workers are trapped since the last fortnight now.

It is the third visit of the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and National Highway (MoRTH) to the accident site.

Portions of the tunnel had collapsed following a landslide on November 12, leaving the workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris. The tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from Dehradun, is part of the Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government.

Locals said they had been demanding the construction of a temple dedicated to the local deity ever since the tunnel work started in 2019. They also blamed the recurring hurdles in the rescue operations to the non-construction of the temple.

The entire Raditop hill area in Rawayin valley of the Garhwal hills worship Baba Baukhnath. The people staunchly believe that new work or development activities are taken up with the blessings of the deity.

Echoing similar concern, local MLA Sanjay Dobhal said the tunnel construction company had promised to build the Baba Baukhnath temple but it did not honour its promise.

“Now all the rescue officials besides Union minister V K Singh, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, experts, and government officials stationed at the incident site bow down to the deity before starting their work,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the auger machine parts and drilling blades stuck inside the debris since Friday evening have been removed and preparations are on to resume manual horizontal drilling of the escape passage.