Rescue efforts hampered as tunnel collapse traps 40 workers in India

17 Nov 2023 CW Team

Rescue teams faced challenges reaching 40 workers trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel in India. Officials reported that massive boulders were impeding efforts to establish an evacuation passage.

Despite the tunnel collapse three days ago, the trapped labourer?s remain safe and healthy, according to an official involved in the on-going rescue operations, as the workers have been provided with food, water, and oxygen through a pipeline since the incident occurred at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday.

To address the blockage caused by boulders, G.S. Naveen, the relief commissioner of Uttar Pradesh state, stated that a heavy machine from New Delhi is being brought in to insert a new evacuation pipe.

The 4.5-km tunnel, part of the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route in neighboring Uttarakhand state, collapsed during the night shift with approximately 50-60 men present. Reports suggest that those near the tunnel exit managed to escape, leaving 40 workers trapped deeper inside.

The Char Dham highway, a significant project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government, aims to connect four revered Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand through a network of roads spanning 890 km and costing $1.5 billion.

The mountainous region's susceptibility to landslides, earthquakes, and floods has raised concerns. This incident adds to previous instances of land subsidence attributed by geologists, residents, and officials to rapid construction in the mountains.

Criticism from environmental experts has prompted temporary halts in the project, particularly after hundreds of houses were damaged by subsidence along the routes. The tunnel project, initiated in 2018 with an initial completion target of July 2022, now faces a delay, with the government stating a revised completion date of May 2024.

Infrastructure Urban

17 Sep 2025

DCPC Prepares for Special Campaign 5.0 with Focus on E-Waste

The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, is gearing up for Special Campaign 5.0, to be held from 2nd to 31st October 2025. The initiative will focus on e-waste disposal as per MoEFCC’s E-Waste Management Rules 2022, space optimisation, and enhancing workplace efficiency across field offices.Special Campaign 4.0, conducted between October 2023 and October 2024, delivered notable results in record management, grievance redressal, scrap disposal, and cleanliness drives.Key outcomes of Special Campaign 4.0Records management: 2,443 physical fil..

BlackRock India Leases 1.4 Lakh Sq Ft in Bengaluru

BlackRock Services India, the domestic arm of global asset manager BlackRock, has leased 1.4 lakh sq ft of office space at IndiQube Symphony in Bengaluru, according to Propstack data. The 10-year deal is valued at around Rs 4.10 billion.The lease, among the largest transactions in India’s co-working sector, highlights the growing preference of global institutions for flexible office providers. The agreement, commencing October 1, 2025, covers ground plus five floors in KNG Tower 1 at Ashoknagar, MG Road — one of Bengaluru’s prime commercial hubs.As per the lease document, BlackRock will ..

L&T Bags Rs 25–50 Bn Order for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Track Works

Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Transportation Infrastructure business has secured an order valued between Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 billion from the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor.The contract, Package T1, involves the design, supply, construction, testing, and commissioning of 156 route km of high-speed ballastless track on a Design-Build Lump Sum Price basis. The stretch runs from Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex to Zaroli village in Gujarat and includes 21 km of underground track and 135 km of elevated viaduct.Se..