Tunnel collapse: Kin of more trapped Odisha workers on way to Uttarakhand

The Odisha government is sending family members of three of the five Odia workers who were trapped inside the collapsed under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand for 13 days, an official said on Friday.The kin of the two other labourers are already in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi district where the incident occurred.Besides, Labour Commissioner N Thirumala Naik said, one more official of the department will travel to the site where two others are camping and providing all updates about the rescue operation to the government.

The Odisha government is sending family members of three of the five Odia workers who were trapped inside the collapsed under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand for 13 days, an official said on Friday.

The kin of the two other labourers are already in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district where the incident occurred.

Besides, Labour Commissioner N Thirumala Naik said, one more official of the department will travel to the site where two others are camping and providing all updates about the rescue operation to the government. A total of 41 workers were trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel as the operation to evacuate them continued to get disrupted for one reason or another.

''While family members of two workers are already in Uttarkashi, family members of another three workers will travel there on Saturday morning,'' Labour Commissioner N Thirumala Naik told PTI. The state government is facilitating the travel, food and accommodation of these family members, he said.

They will stay there till the completion of the rescue operation. All the five trapped workers from Odisha are doing fine, Naik added.

Of the five workers, Khirod Nayak, Dhiren Nayak and Bisweswar Nayak are from Mayurbhanj district, while Bhagwan Bhatra and Tapan Mandal belong to Nabarangpur and Bhadrak districts respectively. Another labour department official said the family members of two workers, who are already in Uttarkashi, have talked to the workers over walkie-talkie. After talking to their family members, the workers have expressed happiness, he said. Odisha's Labour Minister SP Nayak said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been monitoring the tunnel collapse incident and is concerned over the safety of 41 workers including five from the state. The multi-agency rescue effort began on November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed, trapping workers who were still inside.