Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Ops Not A Domestic Affair. How Global Media Reacted

 In a dramatic incident, rescue personnel successfully rescued all 41 laborers trapped in an under-construction collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarkashi after 17 days on Tuesday evening, and the global media lauded the effort and gave live coverage.

“Human labor triumphed over machinery as the specialists managed to manually drill through the final 12 metres of rubble to reach the men,” the British daily ‘The Guardian’ reported. Meanwhile, London-based ‘The Telegraph’ emphasized the rat-hole mining method used.

Rat-hole mining is still an illegal archaic type of manual coal extraction. The approach was outlawed by India’s National Green Tribunal in 2014. In addition to the hazardous working conditions, researchers believe rat-hole mining is harmful to the ecosystem.

The primitive practice has been connected to major repercussions such as deforestation, soil erosion, river acidity, and ecosystem disruption. However, the lack of viable alternative livelihoods for residents remains rat-hole mining a common practice in several parts of India.

On November 12, a landslide caused a piece of the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel to cave in, preventing scores of laborers from escaping. The 17 days of painstaking rescue task saw food, medicines and oxygen being sent to the men through a pipe pushed through the debris.