The 41 labourers who were trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel for more than two weeks have received Rs two lakh in addition to two months’ bonus and salary by the contractor, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
“In addition to above, state government of Uttarakhand has also provided financial support of Rs one lakh each to all trapped workers,” the ministry added.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha MP Sudama Prasad, Union minister Nitin Gadkari also said a committee of experts has been constituted by the government for investigation of the reasons for collapse of the Silkyara Tunnel on NH-134 in the state of Uttarakhand. The committee submitted its preliminary report to the ministry in December 2023.
On being asked if any civil or criminal action was taken against the erring contractors, company and officials responsible for the collapse, the minister said show-cause notices have been issued to the contractor and the consultant looking after the supervision of the work by National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
“The final action against the erring contractors/company and officials responsible for the collapse to be taken based on the final recommendations of the committee of experts,” Gadkari added.
In February, News18 had reported that authorities have issued show-cause notices to several officials, including the DPR consultant and project supervisory officials of the ministry’s NHIDCL, based on the report of an expert committee that visited the collapsed Silkyara Tunnel site. Also, instructions were issued to the teams concerned to take necessary action to restart the project with necessary safeguards.
On Thursday, the ministry informed the Rajya Sabha that two bills have been cleared related to the rescue and relief operations at Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand worth over Rs 1.93 crore and a few bills remain unpaid.
Last year, on November 12, in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Barkot collapsed due to debris falling on the Silkyara side. A total of 41 workers were trapped and were rescued safely on November 28.
As part of the Char Dham Mahamarg Pariyojana, the ministry has taken up the construction of the 4.5-km-long two-lane bi-directional tunnel at Silkyara to join the Gangotri and Yamunotri axis under the Radi pass in Uttarakhand and sanctioned for a total project cost of Rs 1,383 crore in March 2018.
The construction of the tunnel will ease the journey for pilgrims as it will provide all-weather connectivity and reduce a 25.6-km snow-affected length of NH-134 (Dharasu-Barkot-Yamunotri road) to 4.5 km, resulting in the reduction of travel time to five minutes from 50 minutes at present.
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