Uttarkashi: Operation Silkyara, which successfully rescued 41 laborers after 17 days of hard work, has become the country's longest rescue operation to rescue laborers trapped in a tunnel or mine. Earlier in the year 1989, 65 laborers were brought out safely from Raniganj coal mine in West Bengal after a 2-day long operation.
Experts from across the country and the world have worked day and night to take this campaign to its destination. On 13 November 1989, Mahabir Colliery Raniganj coal mine of West Bengal was submerged. In which 65 laborers were trapped. To take them out safely, a team was formed under the leadership of mining engineer Jaswant Gill.
He came up with the idea of building a new borehole to send a 7 feet high and 22 inches diameter steel capsule into a mine filled with water. After 2 days of operation, all the workers were finally evacuated safely. In that mission, Gill himself went inside the mine through a steel capsule to save the people.
In 1991, he was also awarded the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak by the then President R Venkataraman. The number of laborers in that operation was more than that of Silkyara, but it took less time to evacuate them. The workers could be taken out only after the 13th day had passed in Silkyara.
A similar operation took place in 2006 in Halderi village of Kurukshetra, Haryana, where a five-year-old child Prince fell into the borewell. After about 50 hours of hard struggle, the rescue teams were successful in taking out the child. In this operation, the child was taken out by connecting another borewell of similar size through an iron pipe of three feet diameter.
These expeditions were famous on foreign soil: Thai Cave Expedition: On June 23, 2018, the Wild Boars football team went to Tham Luang Cave in Thailand and got stuck inside due to waterlogging caused by rain. Finding the players amid the constantly rising water in the cave was a very challenging task. 90 divers were also deployed in the campaign that lasted for about 2 weeks. Together the team was taken out. Former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan lost his life in this rescue operation. This is considered to be one of the most complex rescue operations in the world.
Chile Mine Operation: On August 5, 2010, 33 workers were buried in the collapse of a San Jose gold and copper mine. It was difficult to contact these workers trapped approximately 2000 feet above the ground. After 17 days of hard work, a lifeline hole was made below the surface and food, water and medicine could be sent to the trapped workers. After 69 days, on October 13, all the workers were taken out of the tunnel one by one.
Quecreek Miners Operation: On July 24, 2002, nine workers were trapped in the Quecreek Mining Inc. mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, USA. They could be taken out only after 77 hours with the help of a 22 inch wide iron ring.
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