NEW DELHI: Amid reports raising questions on why the under construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi didn’t have a separate escape tunnel, officials said in this case there was no need for such provision as the single tube is divided into two inter-connected corridors by a partition wall. One part can function as an escape tunnel in case of any emergency as the divider wall would have ‘egress openings’ every 300 meters to move over to the other side.
The role of escape tunnel or escape passageused for getting out of vehicles and passengers in case of fire or any other emergency, comes into play once the operation starts, the officials said.”The provision of escape crossings at the divider of the tunnel is part of the project and these will be operational when the project gets completed and opened for traffic,” they added.
In the ‘detailed project report (DPR)’ prepared by Technocrats Advisory Services had proposed an ‘egress tunnel’, which is an enclosed exit access within the tunnel, for emergency escape and maintenance. The DPR had proposed emergency egress opening of four meters at every 300 meters interval. Sources said, the egress tunnel would have hardly served any purpose.
After detailed discussion during the pre-bid meeting for the project, it was recorded that the egress tunnel was not required, sources said. They added that this also increased the space available for traffic flow and emergency lay-bays.
While there have been three instances of significant collapses since 2019, sources claimed that the Silkyara project has been executed as per the approved plan, keeping in mind the geological conditions. The biggest incident occurred on Diwali, which resulted in 41 workers getting trapped inside the tunnel for 17 days. On earlier two occasions, the two minor collapses had impacted two and around 15 meters respectively, and no worker was trapped. These portions were restored after carrying out technical treatment.
Officials said the government will revive the Silkyara tunnel project, part of the Chardham road project, after conducting the audit and repairing the damaged portions, though it may take a few months.The officials added that a thorough probe will be conducted to identify what led to the collapse of the tunnel and the corrective measures that is to be taken.
The role of escape tunnel or escape passageused for getting out of vehicles and passengers in case of fire or any other emergency, comes into play once the operation starts, the officials said.”The provision of escape crossings at the divider of the tunnel is part of the project and these will be operational when the project gets completed and opened for traffic,” they added.
In the ‘detailed project report (DPR)’ prepared by Technocrats Advisory Services had proposed an ‘egress tunnel’, which is an enclosed exit access within the tunnel, for emergency escape and maintenance. The DPR had proposed emergency egress opening of four meters at every 300 meters interval. Sources said, the egress tunnel would have hardly served any purpose.
After detailed discussion during the pre-bid meeting for the project, it was recorded that the egress tunnel was not required, sources said. They added that this also increased the space available for traffic flow and emergency lay-bays.
While there have been three instances of significant collapses since 2019, sources claimed that the Silkyara project has been executed as per the approved plan, keeping in mind the geological conditions. The biggest incident occurred on Diwali, which resulted in 41 workers getting trapped inside the tunnel for 17 days. On earlier two occasions, the two minor collapses had impacted two and around 15 meters respectively, and no worker was trapped. These portions were restored after carrying out technical treatment.
Officials said the government will revive the Silkyara tunnel project, part of the Chardham road project, after conducting the audit and repairing the damaged portions, though it may take a few months.The officials added that a thorough probe will be conducted to identify what led to the collapse of the tunnel and the corrective measures that is to be taken.