Odisha: Jubilations mark rescue of trapped workers; people throng temples

BHUBANESWAR: The whole of Odisha on Wednesday celebrated the rescue of the 41 workers who spent harrowing moments for 17 long days in an under-construction tunnel that caved in on November 12 at Silkyara in Uttarkashi.

People in Puri offered prayers at Lord Jagannath temple thanking the deity for safe evacuation of the trapped workers.

“Hundreds of people turned up at Lord Jagannath temple and thanked the deity for the successful evacuation of the trapped workers. Many of them were seen in tears of joy as they expressed how happy and relieved they felt after the rescuers, including the rat-hole miners, saved the lives of workers,” said Chinmayee Mohanty, a devotee.

At Lingaraj temple and other holy shrines in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar, people offered prayers and puja expressing their gratitude to gods for protecting the lives of all the workers.

“The whole of Odisha now feels relieved as five Odia workers have been rescued along with 36 fellow members after spending 17 long days in the collapsed tunnel in depressing conditions,” said Sarita Nayak, a resident of Baripada in Mayurbhanj district.     

The Odia workers who along with their fellow members were rescued include Bisweswar Nayak and Dhiren Nayak from Baripada, Bhagwan Bhatra from Jharigaon, Raju Nayak from Kuldiha, and Tapan Mondal from Chalis Chen village.

Reports said family members of the Odia workers danced with fellow villagers and well-wishers who gathered at their places after the news broke that the rescue mission was successfully accomplished. Family members of the rescued workers distributed sweets to neighbours.

After receiving the news of her son’s rescue, Dhiren Nayak’s mother, who had been crying and not taking food for the last 17 days, was on cloud nine and distributed sweets to villagers.

“I am so happy to learn that Dhiren is now out of the tunnel. We spoke with him over the phone. He is healthy and does not have any injuries,” said a relative of Dhiren.

Similarly, the mood of the villagers at Jharigaon in Nabarangpur was nothing less than festive after the news of Bhagwan Bhatra’s rescue spread last night.

Dabugaon Block Development Officer (BDO) Sharat Majhi said, “I am happy that Bhagwan is safe and out of the collapsed tunnel. We will welcome him when he returns to the village. We will make sure to include him in government schemes so that he does not go again to work as a migrant worker.”

“I celebrated Bhagawan’s safe evacuation from the tunnel with his family members with dance and the bursting of firecrackers. It is no less than Diwali for us,” said Dabugaon MLA, Manohar Randhari.

The perseverance of the rescue team yielded results after they successfully rescued all the workers who were stuck in the tunnel for 17 long days.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and other agencies broke through the debris to push 60 meters of rescue pipe by auger machine and rat miners to reach the workers.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other officials welcomed and inquired about the health of the rescued workers.