We were determined: Rat-hole miner expresses elation of rescuing Uttarkashi workers

All 41 workers have been successfully extracted from the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, ending the 17-day-long rescue mission. The workers were safely extracted using the rat-hole mining method after horizontal drilling was halted due to malfunctions in Auger machine. 

In an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, leader of the rat-hole mining team who spoke on the mindset of his team and explained the risks involved in the process. 

“I and my team have been doing this for a long time. I felt that I can repeat that here because I understood beforehand when the Auger (machine) got stuck, it could have only been done manually,” he told Arnab. 

The expert said that his boys carried out the rescue work manually after the US-made Auger machine broke down during the horizontal drilling. 

Explaining the manual drilling process to lay pipes for the rescue ops, the expert said, “Two of our boys enter the pipeline and manually remove the things which come in the way using gas welding or grinder. They clean it and push the pipe further.” 

Rat-hole mining is the method in which a miner digs small pits which just fits one person. This method was widely practiced for coal mining in Meghalaya and was banned in 2014 by the National Green Tribunal after the death of many workers. 

For Uttarkashi mission, two teams of three miners each worked manually to reach the trapped workers. 

When asked about the risks involved in rat-hole mining, the leader said, “Yes, there is a lot of risk. If the soil falls over you, it could break your limbs or even kill you.”

Arnab speaks to one of the rat-hole miners

Arnab also spoke to one of the six rat-hole miners who were flown in from Madhya Pradesh for the manual work. 

When asked about his experience in the final moments of the rescue mission, he said, “We felt very good. They hugged us and they were so happy. I am also very happy to rescue them.”

About the risk involved in rat-hole mining, he replied, “Risk is always there but we were determined to get them out. We were determined that we would leave only after rescuing them.”