UTTARKASHI: Workers rescued from the Silkyara tunnel were airlifted to AIIMS-Rishikesh for a health check-up on Wednesday, officials said.
Forty-one workers were rescued from the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi after a gruelling 17-day operation that culminated on Tuesday evening. The workers were kept under medical observation at a hospital in Chinyalisaur after their evacuation.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met them there and handed over Rs 1 lakh to each of them.
Praising the trapped workers for showing exemplary patience, the Uttarakhand chief minister said assurance from them that they were alright and ready to wait while the rescue agencies did their work also strengthened his resolve to have them evacuated safely.
Dhami reiterated the state government has decided to review all tunnel projects. "There are several such projects underway in the state. We have decided to have them reviewed. We need development but there should be a balance between ecology and economy," the chief minister said.
An official at AIIMS-Rishikesh said the workers will first be taken to the trauma ward of the hospital from where they will be shifted to the disaster ward for a detailed examination of their health parameters.
The disaster ward of AIIMS-Rishikesh has a capacity of 100 beds. All arrangements are ready at the facility to tend to the evacuated workers, he said.
The rescue workers on Tuesday evening pulled out all the 41 workers who got trapped after a portion of the Silkyara tunnel, part of the Centre's ambitious Char Dham project, collapsed due to a landslide on November 12.