Where’s the promised safety audit?

The dangers of construction in the fragile Himalayas are known, but it seems much of it was ignored during the tunnel work .

Governments are apt to push uncomfortable questions under the carpet. So it seems with the Silkyara tunnel issue, too. The National Highways Authority of India had promised to conduct a safety audit of the tunnel as also of other tunnels being made in the Himalayas.

Two days after the 41 trapped workers in the 4.5-km-long Silkyara tunnel were evacuated after a difficult rescue operation that required several arms of the government to put their resources together, the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd’s managing director Anshu Manish Khalko announced that a safety audit of the tunnel was going to be a top priority. The need for such an audit cannot be underestimated, especially since he went public to state that the falling of debris in this tunnel seems to have been a reoccurring feature and in his knowledge, it had happened at least 21 times in the past. 

The frequent falling of rubble was confirmed by the workers themselves. Following their evacuation on November 28, they stressed how, on the morning of November 12, they were busy at work when debris began falling around them and they could hear the mountain rumble. Since this happened frequently, they did not pay attention to it for almost 30 minutes or so -- till they realised that their exit route had been blocked and they could not escape. A similar collapse had happened at the same place in 2019 but no worker had got hurt at that time.

A safety audit should have been ordered long ago. Geologists believe that the recent collapse indicated that no standard operating procedures were being followed during tunnel construction.  Excavations in the mountains need to be carried out under the constant supervision of competent geologists. A record of every detail of tunnel construction needs to be maintained to ensure that safety norms are not being flouted by those in charge.

Road and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted recently criticising the quality of the detailed project reports (DPR) being prepared for road projects. Speaking at the Indian Road Congress at Gandhinagar, he said, “DPR makers…what words should I use for them? I have never seen people doing such shoddy (ghatiya) quality (of work)…Tell them (the DPR makers) exactly what I said… they sit at home, look up on Google and make DPRs…Accidents are happening,” Gadkari said, “…The important thing is making a 101% perfect DPR without compromising on design and quality. Is this a good thing that there are 5 lakh accidents
in the country and 1.5 lakh deaths (every year)?”

The question to ask Gadkari and his huge team of technocrats and bureaucrats is, why aren’t they reviewing the contents of DPRs before starting work on projects. Surely, a ministry such as his has the expertise to evaluate DPRs before a project gets executed.

Obviously, this evaluation process has not been followed, with several NHIDCL officials admitting off-the-record that the quantum of debris had increased in the Silkyara tunnel, which is attributed to a lack of proper “geological inputs”. It is shocking to learn that a major tunnel of this size was being built without conducting a detailed topographical survey. The cave-in that trapped the 41 workers could probably have been avoided had extra support been given in identified loose stretches.  

Experts have also said that modern tunnelling methods were not being followed either in the design or construction of this tunnel. Geologists like C P Rajendran have frequently emphasised that one of the major keys to successful tunnelling in the complex geological setting around the Himalayas is to understand the subsurface investigation involving several techniques such as Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Seismic Refraction Tomography, bore-hole drilling and test audits. Were these investigations made?

The other crucial question that needs to be asked regarding the partial collapse of the Silkyara tunnel is why no safe exit route had been provided for workers to escape through. The 41 workers as also their colleagues helping in the excavation work outside the tunnel revealed that earlier, large cement pipes had been placed on one side to provide an escape route but these had been removed by the authorities. 

The other crucial aspect ignored is that the tunnel has been built close to the ‘Main Central Thrust’ tectonic fault-line present in the Himalayas. This poses a major risk to the construction of roads and tunnels. The Main Central Thrust is where the Indian tectonic plate pushes under the Eurasian plate, resulting in frequent earthquakes. The geology and rock composition should have also been carefully studied. The tunnel workers say that several earthquakes had occurred in the course of the tunnel construction, with three having occurred just during the 17 days they were caught in the tunnel.

The tunnel was being constructed by Hyderabad-based construction firm Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL). Media reports from Uttarkashi point out that neither the chairman nor the managing director of the company were visible at the rescue site during the 17-day operation. So far, no FIR has been lodged against NECL. When reporters present at the tunnel site asked this question of Gen V K Singh, Union Minister of State for Transport and Roadways, he replied that the focus at the time was on rescuing the workers and that suitable action would be initiated against those found guilty at a subsequent date.

There is a belief that building tunnels will decrease the infrastructural impact of construction taking place in an ecologically sensitive environment. But in reality, geologists point out that constant vibrations during train movements will keep the mountain slopes unstable and make them prone to slide at the slightest trigger. Though environmentalists have repeatedly warned against using blasting in tunnel construction as this leads to weakening of rock formations, blasting continues to be used widely in the hills.

Excessive road and rail tunnel construction is taking place along the entire length of the Himalayas. This has triggered huge landslides and recent studies show a phenomenal increase in landslides in Uttarakhand during the last decade.   

The instability of the Himalayas is only too well-documented. Additionally, the workers on these infrastructure projects are being made to work in primitive conditions. It is high time the central government initiated action against companies whose actions end up taking a toll on workers and the fragile ecology because they do not follow safety and environmental protocols. 

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist)