Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Revisit safety guidelines, say experts

It has been two weeks since 41 workers got trapped when the tunnel they were building in Uttarakhand collapsed. Yet, a multi-agency rescue operation with a five-pronged approach by a team of government and international experts has not been able to pierce through the debris around the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel.

“This is a war, and the enemy is Himalayan geology,” National Disaster Management Authority member Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters earlier this week.

The recognition that the Himalayan geology fragile enough to foil the most concerted rescue efforts is proof of the extreme caution that should have been taken when the Char Dham Pariyojana was on the drawing board, experts say.

S P Sati, geologist and professor of environmental science at the Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, said: “We have seen contractors employ explosives in tunnel projects. The (Silkyara tunnel) collapse might have also occurred due to the use of explosives.”

Sati added that the absence of an escape route was worrying, “given that regulations explicitly mandate the construction of an escape passage for this tunnel”.

Projects such as the collapsed tunnel and the Char Dham plan typically require an environmental impact assessment (EIA). However, the Centre did not conduct such an assessment for the project as it was divided into multiple stretches, each less than 100 kilometres, thus not warranting an EIA.

Sati termed assessments an eyewash and emphasised the need for comprehensive geophysical and geotechnical surveys for all projects in ecologically sensitive areas.

“There is a need for a comprehensive overhaul of the safety regulations for tunnel construction. Besides, forming a high-powered committee of specialists is crucial to oversee and monitor all tunnel projects,” he added.

In 2019, the Supreme Court appointed a committee for the Char Dham project — announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 to ensure greater accessibility for pilgrims — to suggest remedial measures.

The former chairperson of the committee, Ravi Chopra, said earlier this week that an EIA was essential and the panel had requested the Centre to conduct an assessment. Chopra called the bypassing of the EIA a criminal neglect.

Infrastructure experts also said that more sustainable methods of tunnelling and construction of large-scale projects in the hills need to be deployed to balance the needs of economic development with environmental protection.

According to an EIA notification of 2006, any activities related to construction, operation, or decommissioning of a project that lead to physical changes in the locality (alterations in topography, land use, modifications in water bodies, etc.) mandate the submission of complete details to the government. Contractors, too, are obligated to provide all information about underground works, including mining or tunnelling.

Business Standard wrote to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, seeking clarification on whether the government or private agencies conducted an EIA or received information from contractors on the tunnel construction. The query remained unanswered till press time.