Unveiling the Heroes: Meet the Team Behind the Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Operation

On November 12, 2023, a portion of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, India, collapsed, trapping 41 workers inside. The incident sparked a massive rescue operation involving a diverse team of individuals working tirelessly to bring the trapped workers to safety.

The rescue effort was a multi-agency collaboration, with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Indian Army, and local authorities working in coordination. Experts from various fields, including engineers, geologists, and medical personnel, also joined the operation.

Here we discuss the team of people who played a key role in the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation.

Operation Zindagi

 Operation Zindagi was a massive and remarkable rescue operation launched by the state government to save 41 workers trapped for 17 days in the Silkyara Bend - Barkot tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand, India. A team of doctors and a hospital with 41 beds were kept ready on standby to ensure immediate medical relief to the workers extracted.

Also read: What is Operation Zindagi? Know All Findings on Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse

IAS officer Neeraj Khairwal

IAS officer Neeraj Khairwal was appointed as the Nodal officer of the rescue operation. Khairwal, also a Secretary in the Uttarakhand government, was commanding and overseeing the operations. He updated the CMO and PMO on a regular basis.

Retired Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain

Retired Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) team and former GOC 15 corps of the Indian Army, also played a key role in overseeing the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operations.

Chris Cooper (Micro-tunnelling expert)

A micro-tunnelling expert and a Chartered Engineer, Chris Cooper also joined the rescue operation. Cooper specializes in Civil Engineering infrastructure, dams, railway, metro tunnels, and mining projects. Cooper is also the international consultant for the Rishikesh Karnprayag rail project.

Tunnelling expert Arnold Dix

Arnold Dix, a tunnelling expert and a scientific researcher, supervised the use of the American auger machine for horizontal driling of the tunnel.

Rat-hole mining experts

A team of six rat-hole miners were also called in from Madhya Pradesh to conduct micro-tunnelling and manual drilling through the debris, and rescue through the narrow 800 mm pipe to extract the trapped workers.