Silkyara Tunnel: Green signal to restart work; show-cause notice issued to NHIDCL officials

Based on the report of the expert committee that inspected the site of the collapsed section of Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, show-cause notices have been issued to several officials, including the consultant for the detailed project report. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that directions have also been issued to resume pending work on the project by adhering to necessary safeguards.

“Based on the preliminary report, show-cause notices have been issued to the DPR consultant, authority engineer, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor and the project supervising officer of NHIDCL for the deficiencies pointed out by the committee,” it said.

The ministry further said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has conducted preliminary safety audits of all existing and ongoing tunnel projects in India. “NHAI has signed an MoU with DMRC/KRCL to conduct detailed safety audit of critical tunnels in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi,” it added.

In a separate reply, the ministry also informed the Lok Sabha that at least six tunnel projects (with a total length of at least 30 kilometers) are being tendered across the country, while 41 projects (with a total length of 101 kilometers) are under construction.

Jammu and Kashmir has the highest share of these tunnels, with three tunnels under tender and 12 under construction, with a total length of about 58 km, the ministry said.

Silkyara tunnel collapse

On November 12, a portion of the Silkyara Tunnel under construction collapsed, leaving debris along a 60-meter stretch of the entrance, trapping 41 workers inside. They were rescued on November 28 last year after being trapped for 17 days.

The 4.5 km long two-lane bidirectional tunnel is part of the ‘Char Dham Mahamarg Pariyojana’ and will connect the Gangotri and Yamunotri axes under the Ladhi pass. The total cost of the project, approved in March 2018, was Rs 1,383 crore.

The construction of the tunnel will ease the journey of pilgrims as it will provide all-weather connectivity and shorten the snow-affected 25.6 km length of NH134 (Dharasu-Barkot-Yamunotri road) to 4.5 km, thereby reducing the travel time from 50 minutes to 5 minutes.