The rescue operation at an under-construction tunnel at Mayapur in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district continued through the night and into Friday morning, with three of the 22 workers still trapped. Nineteen workers have been rescued so far.
Debris and water entered a stretch of approximately 1.5 km of the three km-long tunnel.
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Seven deaths have been confirmed, and 12 injured workers are undergoing treatment. The seven have been identified as Pradeep Singh Pawar, 31, Mukesh (Uttarakhand), Durlabh Sharma (Bihar), Vijay, 28, Jitendra Kumar (Jharkhand), and Lokeshwar and Bhuneshwar.
Debris and water entered a stretch of approximately 1.5 km of the three-kilometre-long tunnel of the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project after a landslide. Officials said top officials, including district magistrate Gaurav Kumar, were monitoring the rescue and relief operations at the site.
Of the 22 people initially reported trapped, 19 were brought out during the overnight rescue operation. Seven were declared dead at a hospital. The search for the remaining three workers is continuing amid difficult conditions caused by the accumulation of debris and water inside the tunnel.
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Six rescue workers, who entered the tunnel to assist in the operation, have also been safely evacuated and are reported to be safe.
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Six rescue workers, who entered the tunnel to assist in the operation, have also been safely evacuated and are reported to be safe.
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Rescuers from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, police, and other technical and specialist agencies have been deployed at the site.
Kumar directed officials to make effective use of all available resources and technical assistance to rescue the remaining workers. The administration is also ensuring medical treatment and other necessary facilities for the injured.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami rushed to the site despite extremely bad weather to take stock of the rescue operation. His helicopter could not land due to adverse weather conditions. “The safe evacuation of every worker trapped inside the tunnel is the government’s top priority. All agencies involved in the operation have been directed to work on a war footing to rescue those still missing,” said Dhami.
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.
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Home/India News/3 workers remain trapped as rescue ops continue at Uttarakhand tunnel
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