Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Revisit safety guidelines, say experts
It has been two weeks since 41 workers got trapped when the tunnel they were building in Uttarakhand collapsed. Yet, a multi-agency rescue operation with a five-pronged approach by a team of government and international experts has not been able to pierce through the debris around the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel.
“This is a war, and the enemy is Himalayan geology,” National Disaster Management Authority member Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters earlier this week.
The recognition that the Himalayan geology fragile enough to foil the most concerted rescue efforts is proof of the extreme caution that should have been taken when the Char Dham Pariyojana was on the drawing board, experts say.
