Uttarkashi Tunnel | 'Hardiness of Trapped Workers Helped Us': NDMA's Ata Hasnain

All of India heaved a huge sigh of relief on Tuesday, 28 November, as 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi for 17 days (more than 400 hours) were finally rescued.

To gain an understanding of what was going on behind the scenes, The Quint spoke to Lieutenant General (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and an integral part of the rescue effort.

Q: What is your first reaction to this successful rescue effort, given that it was such a high-pressure situation spanning over 17 days, but every one of those 41 workers made it out alive?

A: Well, frankly, I'm used to pressure, and in this particular case, expectations were running very high. But personally, I had confidence in all the measures that were being taken because they were being driven from the highest level, that is, by the honourable prime minister himself. He had taken such a genuine interest in this whole thing and was personally monitoring it. His office was coordinating all the rescue efforts.

I had been tasked by the Prime Minister's Office to make sure that the information was reaching the public and on time, very transparently, without holding back anything. The manner in which all departments of the government were functioning, I knew that it was only a matter of time. Nevertheless, we were prepared for the long haul, maybe 40, or 45 days if necessary.

The workers themselves are known to be very tough and hardy people from rural areas who could survive on very little for a long time. That was a very important factor for us too, that even if we failed in our various efforts, at least the longevity of the workers was guaranteed to us.

We had a logistics line open to them, along with psycho-social support to make sure that their motivation was upheld throughout. The ability to speak to their relatives was actually the force multiplier to ensure high motivation and morale.

So, because of all this, I was pretty confident.

Q: How crucial was the element of teamwork, given that this was an effort that required the expertise and contributions of security organisations, governmental departments, and scientific minds as well?

A: Yes, definitely, teamwork is a very important factor in this, that progressively, lots and lots of organisations came into it. The first call was made by the prime minister's principal secretary to the railway board, and then the Railway Ministry, to bring on board the infrastructure specialists of the railways, because they are known to be very good in bridging and tunnelling efforts.

A lot of experience was involved in this operation, including different infrastructure organisations of India from the public sector. Some of them had private contractors too. It was wonderful how they came together, and looked at different options. There was no question of looking just at local resources. We looked at rescue efforts from an all-India basis from Odisha, from Gujarat, from Madhya Pradesh, from every direction really.

The Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways ensured that green corridors were created so that all this traffic could move, unimpeded completely. The railways ensured that the heavy equipment could be brought by rail.

So, it was a monumental effort, and I must appreciate the media's maturity and ability to transmit the message coming from the government, that is, that it is a difficult operation, so don't lose hope, create positivity.

"Let's pray together. India is together in this." That's the message that was going out.

Q: You wrote for the Indian Express, "There are tunnels under construction all over the Himalayas. These are necessary for better logistics, sustainability, and the economies of the regions they serve." But do you consider this incident a warning sign with respect to tunnel construction? What are your takeaways from this?

A: See, the most mature way of looking at this is that we have had airline crashes, but we haven't stopped aviation. We've had ships going down with cargo, even with passengers onboard. But we haven't stopped shipping. So, the rationale for stopping tunnelling in the mountains doesn't really exist. What is important is that we learn the lessons. It is criminal if we don't learn the lessons.

Now, if you go to, I think, the 10th point of the Honourable Prime Minister's ten-point program on disaster management, you will see that for every disaster, we must learn the lessons and document them.

[Editor's note: point number nine of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction reads, "Make use of every opportunity to learn from disasters and, to achieve that, there must be studies on the lessons after every disaster."]

So, different organisations should be involved in this. The NDMA, that's my organisation, we look at it from a disaster angle, from a risk mitigation, management, and response angle, but the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways, the Ministry of Mines etc, will all look at it from a scientific and legal point of view, to see how best we can strengthen this effort, and to make sure that there's a more organised and fail-safe strategy that goes into all of this.

We've got huge tunnelling going on.

The Zoji La Tunnel is there, the Atal Tunnel is there. Then there's the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh. We've got a tunnel at Pir Panjal which connects railways from Katra to Baramulla and that becomes operational in four to five weeks. So, it absolutely imperative that we continue our research, and we progressively use the best tunnelling methods from around the world.

Q: Rat-hole mining is a drilling method banned by the law. How did the rescue team come across this idea, and how were you confident that this would succeed in getting the 41 workers out?

A: See, first of all, I think we kept an open line. All of India was calling and we were willing to accept suggestions. All the ministries involved also had open lines and many suggestions were coming in constantly. At this time, to ascribe whose idea it was and whose decision it was may not be entirely correct, but the fact remains, that you look for anything from anywhere that could save lives, right?

Rat-hole mining may be banned in India, but the rat-hole mining capability still exists. That capability has been transformed into underground cabling these days.

There's a lot of cabling going on in the metros and places like that. These are the people who are capable of doing it. It's not necessary to physically go inside and do it at the moment, but they've got the capability, the ability to work in enclosed spaces for long periods of time, and the ability to use modern, underground equipment in these spaces is something amazing.

That is what actually gave us the confidence and that's why they were employed. They actually outdid themselves. My expectation was three metres in a day. They did 11 to 12 metres, despite the impediments in front of them.

So, I think it was a marvellous idea and wonderfully executed.

Q: How did the rescue team ensure that the trapped workers remained healthy, given that they had no access to the outside world for 17 days?

A: See, the lessons learned from COVID really come in here. Yeah, telemedicine played a huge role during the pandemic. No one would physically go to doctors. In fact, even today, I am still consulting many doctors online rather than going to them myself. There's a doctor who was earlier in Noida, and now living in Dubai, and is continuing to digitally treat me from there.

So, I think the nation has gained confidence in this. And because of that, once the line was laid, we could bring doctors to individually give advice to all of them, and regarding any ailments that they had.

Collective advice was more important, collective advice on how to maintain their physiological health throughout. And then medicines on call as per requirement were being sent inside.

But the important thing is these men trapped were very hardy. They are from the rural areas of India. They are used to hard labour, and they are the mainstay of construction and infrastructure all around the country, like the Border Roads Organisation of the Indian Army, which always relies on this kind of labuor. And we know what they can deliver.

Due to their strength and stamina, their survivability was never at stake.