The prayers of over a billion Indians bore fruit, with the successful rescue of all 41 workers, who were trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel for 17 days. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed that 12 rat-hole mining experts were called into action to complete the last stretch of drilling by using hand-held tools in a confined space in the mountainous region. The workers were stranded after a landslide led to a collapse in the tunnel they were building as part of a road construction project.

That the operation took nothing short of two weeks to culminate points to the precarious nature of drilling in a geologically sensitive area, which also highlights why the tunnel collapse occurred in the first place. Located about 30 km from Uttarkashi, and a 139 km drive from state capital Dehradun, the Silkyara tunnel is a critical component of the centre’s ambitious, but controversial Char Dham all-weather road project. The Centre had approved the construction of the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel in February 2018.

Back then, it was estimated that the project would take four years to complete. Once completed, the tunnel would be 4.5 km long and 8.5 metres high, and would reduce the travel distance between Yamunotri and Dharasu by 20 km. Tellingly, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for such projects seem to be carried out merely as lip service in favour of quick approvals. A case in point: the same section of the Uttarakhand tunnel had crumbled in 2019, which caused a delay in work, but fortunately no casualties.

The region is no stranger to the consequences of unplanned infrastructure development, as over 200 people had lost their lives in the aftermath of a flash flood that trapped workers and residents near a major hydropower project in this area two years ago. In 2013, a cloudburst in Uttarakhand triggered devastating floods and landslides in several states which claimed over 6,000 lives.

Regarding this latest episode involving the 900-km Char Dham Mahamarg Pariyojana, the rush to bypass the EIA, which is a must for any proposed highway that runs longer than 100 km, the government came up with an ‘ingenious’ solution. To finish the project before the upcoming elections, the government split the project into 53 separate sections, none of them over 100 km in length, which does away with the need for environmental clearance. Now, the government needs to conduct a broad-based environmental audit of all infrastructure projects being undertaken in ecologically sensitive regions in the country, including the Himalayas.

Apart from the question of ecological approvals, we also need to make sense of the financial and medical protection offered to construction workers employed at such high-risk zones. One wonders if there is an element of risk cover that is factored into their compensation or are they being treated on par with any other worker employed in the unskilled labour ecosystem.

It might seem ironic that Dehradun is currently hosting the sixth World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) 2023, an event aimed at bringing together stakeholders for a better understanding of building resilience to such mishaps. At a time when the planet is being held at gunpoint on account of climate change, it is imperative that such congregations are worth more than the price of the pamphlets that the invites are printed on.