In the wake of the recent tunnel collapse incident trapping 41 construction workers in the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, leading environmentalists, and experts have highlighted the need for an escape route which is a must in such projects.

They have also pointed towards going ahead very scientifically, and at a slow pace while constructing tunnels in hilly areas.

Escape routes are essential not only to save lives and facilitate rescue work, but also to ensure supply of material in the tunnel in a smooth manner, they say.

Speaking to The Statesman on tunnels in hilly areas, Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, an eminent environmentalist, and Padma Bhushan awardee for environmental conservation in Uttarakhand, said tunnels in mountains are safer as compared to roads.

“Digging tunnels is an age-old practice,” he added.

Highlighting a crucial aspect of tunneling, he said the way tunnels should be constructed has to involve a lot of scientific research before going ahead with the task. The work should be carried out taking all safety measures in a slow but steady manner, that too with a scientific approach.

“The key is to go slow, go about the initial digging with utmost care, proper cementing and consolidation of the same, and then only move ahead for drilling further,” he elaborated.

Another crucial aspect of tunnel construction that could have been taken into consideration to avert the trapping of workers was making a provision for an emergency exit. This is the crucial aspect of tunnel construction to ensure the safety of the workers, which was overlooked.

On the readiness to deal with such eventualities, he said the state was not properly equipped to handle such a situation there was much to be done in this regard, especially on the technology front as well as infrastructure available with the hill state.

“Uttarakhand is not ready for such situations and a lot of work needs to be done on research and execution of such projects,” he emphasised.

In this context, Joshi referred to other tunnels in Uttarakhand, that were built in an even more fragile Shivalik zone, like the old tunnel at one of Dehradun’s inlet at Mohund forest near the Daat Kali temple.

This tunnel was very old and was catering alone to the traffic coming towards Dehradun before the new tunnel was commissioned in the past couple of years.

He asserted that tunnels were much safer for mountains as compared to roads saying, tunnels have been there for ages and have lesser impact on the hill ecosystem.”

Dr Joshi is also the founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO), which is based in Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand. His works include developing sustainable technologies for ecosystem development.

On the rescue operation, he said the way the Centre intervened by stepping up the strategies and the entire working as per reports, hopefully in the coming two days the trapped people will be rescued.

As per reports, rescue teams are most likely to make a breakthrough by tomorrow as drilling to create a rescue passage is underway.

In a post on ‘X’ on Wednesday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “A total of 45 meters of drilling has been completed after resuming work with the Auger drilling machine.

After equipment being provided by the Central government both vertical and horizontal drilling options are being worked upon.

“With the help of NDRF and SDRF, audio communication has been set up with the workers trapped inside, after which everyone is being made to talk to the doctors one by one. Keeping in mind the mental health of the workers, they are also being made to talk to a psychiatrist. The well-being of our workers is our top priority,” the other part of CM’s post read.