Relatives of 13 workers from Jharkhand who are among the 40 labourers trapped inside the Silkyara Tunnel on the Uttarkashi-Yamnotri Road, a section of which collapsed on Sunday morning, are spending sleepless nights since the news reached their families on Sunday afternoon.

Chameli Devi, wife of Bishwajeet Verma, 36, a native of Keshodih village in the Birni block of Giridih district of Jharkhand, said it was a dark Diwali for them.

“All our plans for Diwali decoration were cancelled as we stayed glued to the neighbourhood TV sets and mobile phones for any information on my husband and nephew who are trapped inside the tunnel. The message was conveyed to our family by the Giridih district administration who received the information
from the state migrant control room in Ranchi,” said Chameli Devi.

Incidentally, Bishwajeet had been working in the company for two years and in September this year had taken his sister’s son, Subodh Verma, 25, along with him for the highway tunnel project in Uttarakhand.

Chameli Devi admitted that the family’s financial condition was not good and this was the reason for the two youths to leave their families for the job in Uttarkashi.

As many as 40 men were working in the tunnel, part of an ambitious Himalayan highway project in the town of Uttarakhand, when part of the passageway leading to the entrance gave way, authorities said.

The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway project, a multimillion-dollar infrastructure plan to improve connectivity in the state of Uttarakhand and better access to important pilgrimage locations.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday directed a three-member team to leave for Uttarakhand to assist the 13 trapped workers. The team comprised JAP-IT (Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology) CEO Bhuvanesh Pratap Singh, joint labour commissioners Rajesh Prasad and Pradeep Robert Lakra.

The team would monitor the situation at the site of the mishap and inform the state control room about the developments and help the rescued workers. So far there has been no casualties reported from the site.

All the workers from Jharkhand are safe and likely to be rescued by Wednesday, an official said on Tuesday.

The Jharkhand team, which has already reached Uttarkashi, took details about the workers’ condition from Uttarakhand officials, a statement said.

JAP-IT CEO Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh said all the workers are safe and will be airlifted and brought back to Jharkhand.