How Two Rat-Hole Miners Became The First To Greet 41 Uttarakhand Tunnel Heroes

Rat-hole mining experts Qureshi and Kumar were part of a 12-member team from Rockwell Enterprises, a Delhi-based company that specializes in tunnelling work.

New Delhi: On Tuesday, after 17 days of being trapped under the debris of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, 41 workers finally saw the light of day. The first faces they saw were those of Feroze Qureshi and Monu Kumar, two experts in the rat-hole mining technique, who had cleared the last bit of the rubble inside the tunnel.

Qureshi and Kumar were part of a 12-member team from Rockwell Enterprises, a Delhi-based company that specializes in tunnelling work. They were called on Sunday to assist the multi-agency rescue operation led by the central and state governments, after an American auger machine faced difficulties in removing the rubble.

“When we reached the final layer of the rubble, they (the workers) could hear us. We quickly cleared the remaining debris and went down to the other side,” Qureshi, who lives in Khajoori Khas in Delhi, told PTI.

“The workers hugged and thanked me. They even carried me on their shoulders,” he said, adding that he felt happier than the workers themselves.

Kumar, who hails from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, said the workers gave him almonds and asked for his name. “Soon, our other team members joined us and we stayed with them for about half an hour,” he said.

He said they left the tunnel only after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel arrived. “We are very proud that we were part of this historic operation,” he said.

The leader of the Rockwell Enterprises team, Wakeel Hassan, said he was contacted by a company involved in the rescue operation four days ago.

“The work was delayed due to the removal of the auger’s part from the rubble. We started at 3 pm on Monday and finished the work at 6 pm on Tuesday,” Hassan said, adding, “We had promised to complete the work in 24 to 36 hours and we did it.” He also said they did not take any money for their participation in the rescue operation.