All the 41 workers rescued from the Sikyara tunnel after being trapped behind debris for 17 days have been airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh.
They were taken on a Chinook helicopter, after preliminary health checkups were completed at the medical facility in Chinyalisaur.
The workers were rescued after a challenging operation that lasted over 400 hours. Involving multiple agencies including the NDRF, SDRF and the Army, the operation was the story of true grit and perseverance. In the end, after the US-made auger machine broke down, bring drilling activities to a halt, a team of rat-hole miners manually completed the last stretch of the arduous process.
According to reports, the workers, who survived in the tunnel without natural air and sunlight, will be examined and further tests will be carried out at AIIMS, as precautionary measure.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday met the workers and handed over cheques of Rs 1 lakh to each of them. He also announced Rs 50,000 reward for each of the rescue workers who went inside the evacuation passage and helped the trapped labourers come out of the tunnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to the workers on phone and lauded their courage.
