Hyderabad:
Despite challenges posed by nature in the evacuation process of the 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand, the government is determined to get them to safety, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Prime Minister Modi prayed for the safe evacuation of the workers stuck in a tunnel in Uttarakhand for the past 15 days during a ‘Koti Deepotsavam’, a religious event that involves lighting lamps during the Hindu Kartika month in Hyderabad.
He said the government is making continuous efforts to evacuate workers safely and as early as possible.
“But we have to complete this relief and rescue operation with much alertness. Nature is constantly giving us challenges in this effort. But we are standing firm. We are making efforts round the clock. We must pray for the safe evacuation of these workers and do this at the earliest,” Narendra Modi said.
The government and all agencies together are leaving no stone unturned to bring them out safely, he said.
“Today when we pray to God and talk about human welfare, we should pray for all those worker brothers who were stuck in a tunnel in Uttarakhand for the past two weeks,” he said.
The workers’ family members should take heart that the entire country is behind them, he said.
He prayed that every lamp lit in the ‘Dev Diwali’ and ‘Koti Deepotsavam’ would bring light to the lives of the trapped laborers at the earliest.
It has been 15 days since the 41 workers were trapped in the Silkyara tunnel after part of it collapsed on November 12. The rescue operation was launched soon after the incident, but work was postponed due to obstacles in drilling.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)