All tunnels in the country will be investigated! L&T, Delhi Metro and Konkan Railway will be included in the investigation – all tunnels in the country will be investigated delhi metro and konkan railway will be included in the investigation
The rescue work of workers trapped in the tunnel is going on in Uttarakhand and representatives of labor groups and people from the industry believe that this incident will prove to have a far-reaching impact on the tunnel projects of the country.
Chris Cooper, team leader of the tunnel, heavy civil infrastructure division of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Constructions, said about the rescue work of these workers that with the current option, the success in this work would be at least It may take up to 24 hours.
L&T is among those Indian companies that have voluntarily participated in this rescue operation. “This is going to be a huge problem,” Cooper said. If this option has to be stopped then the other option is a micro tunnel which will take 20 days.
L&T, which is working on various tunnel projects of Rail Vikas Nigam in the state, has voluntarily donated its employees, machines and experience for this rescue operation.
According to a spokesperson, ‘L&T’s board members are in constant touch with officials of the central and state governments to provide all necessary assistance.’ On the other hand, another company in the form of Bengaluru startup Squadron Infra and Mining Private Limited is providing assistance with the help of its drones.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started work on safety assessment measures with the help of DMRC and Konkan Railways. After this incident, NHAI has ordered safety assessment of all its under-construction tunnel projects.
On Wednesday, the highway authority told reporters that NHAI officials, a team of Delhi Metro experts and other tunnel experts will examine the existing tunnel projects and submit their report within seven days.
29 such projects with a total length of 79 kilometers will undergo this scrutiny. These projects are in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Delhi. NHAI has signed an MoU with Konkan Railways under which the design and safety aspects of tunnel construction and slope stabilization will be reviewed. This railway arm will conduct safety assessment of the tunnels and also suggest necessary measures.
Cooper said, ‘Contracts will become expensive. For safety reasons in tunnel construction, an escape tunnel will have to be built and it will have to be included in the design. Obviously this will increase the cost and the contract period will have to be extended.
Amit Uplenchwar, Director, Kalpataru Projects International said, “The bidding and procurement process in India has already been robust and of international standards. When I say this, we still have the scope to look at risk sharing among all stakeholders right from the DPR level itself.
Meanwhile, the country’s major labor organizations, except the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, issued a joint statement expressing concern over inadequate measures to protect workers and demanding an investigation.
He said in his statement that there should be a thorough investigation into any lapse at any level in this matter. There should be investigation into various stages of tunnel work right from issuing the tender.
They also demanded that the Occupational Safety and Health Code, implemented in the name of ease of doing business, be withdrawn as it weakens safety measures and leaves workers out of the protection net.
First Published – November 22, 2023 | 11:00 PM IST
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