Smoking beedis is injurious to health, but Madan Singh’s addiction to beedis saved him from getting trapped in the tunnel of death. The incident took place in Silkyara, Uttarkashi, where an under-construction tunnel caved in on Sunday. Forty laborers are still trapped there, fighting a battle between life and death. Relief is being provided to them, every possible effort is being made for their rescue, but even after three days, the rescue team has not been successful and it is as if the breathing of all the workers is stuck in limbo.
One of those workers, Madan Singh, was on break during his 12-hour shift. Then he saw that rocks and soil had started falling from the roof of the tunnel. He ran out quickly to avoid getting trapped in the debris and Madan Singh narrowly escaped getting trapped in the tunnel. Madan Singh tells that when the tunnel was sinking, apart from him, 4 other workers were able to save themselves by running away quickly.
How did Madan Singh escape from getting trapped in the tunnel?
40 year old Madan Singh is a resident of Jharkhand. He was working for 12 hours in Silkyara Tunnel. Madan Singh says that he has a habit of smoking beedi after working every two or three hours. Even on Sunday morning, he took a 5-minute break from work and came out of the tunnel. He sat on a rock at the mouth of the tunnel to smoke beedi. Madan Singh says that a total of 45 laborers were working at the tunnel site.
Madan Singh about to go into the tunnel after finishing beedi
Madan Singh, published in TOI, says that his beedi was about to end. And they were about to go back into the tunnel. But then they saw that the roof of the tunnel had started falling. The first thing he did was run away from there without thinking anything. Madan Singh said- As soon as I finished the beedi and started preparing to go to work, I heard the loud sound of falling debris. I saw that a huge rock was falling from the roof of the tunnel. Within no time, hundreds of tons of debris fell down. After which the main road of the tunnel got jammed. The workers trapped inside remained inside.
Praying for fellow laborers
Madan Singh is now praying for the safe return of his forty colleagues home. He says that at the place where other laborers are stranded, there is supply of electricity and water but they will need more and more oxygen and food. Now he wants all his friends to come out of the tunnel as soon as possible and reach their respective families.
