'Every day, we hear 2 more hours': Anxiety grips J'khand village as tunnel rescue delays

With three residents of this village on the outskirts of Ranchi still trapped in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, where rescue efforts have encountered yet another obstacle, the anxiety in Khirabeda has now reached a breaking point.

The auger machine’s blades, which were intended to cut through the tunnel’s rubble, became lodged in the debris on Saturday. This forced officials to contemplate other options that might delay the rescue of the 41 trapped workers for several days or even weeks.

Despite being confined to his bed, the desperation on the face of 55-year-old Shravan Bediya, whose only son Rajendra is trapped there, has been palpable since the news reached him.

Besides 22-year-old Rajendra, two others from the village — Sukhram and Anil, both in their early twenties, are trapped inside the tunnel for two weeks now.

Sukhram’s mother Parvati, who is also paralysed, has been inconsolable since she found out about the disaster that happened in Uttarkashi.

In Anil’s house, his grieving mother has not cooked anything for the last two weeks. The family has been surviving on whatever food their neigbours are providing.

The rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route collapsed following a landslide, cutting off the exit for the workers inside.

Anil’s brother Sunil who rushed to the spot from Ranchi told.

(with inputs from agencies)