Tunnel vision

A win for inter-agency coordination, but questions remain

National relief at the rescue of 41 construction workers from the collapsed Silkyara tunnel after 17 days has been bolstered by impressive inter-agency cooperation, a relatively rare achievement in Indian project management. The government certainly pulled out all the stops. Apart from the standard disaster response forces, nine government agencies, including defence organisations and public-sector firms were involved, pooling in expertise and equipment at the rescue site. One step above, the rescue operations were monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office, which requisitioned the services of the health, road transport & highways, and telecom ministries to chip in with resources and