Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: The locals in Uttarkashi claimed that the under-construction Silkyara tunnel collapsed because of the wrath of Baba Boukhnag, a neighborhood deity, whose temple was demolished by the development firm days earlier than the incident occurred on November 12 morning. The temple of the deity was constructed close to the mouth of the tunnel within the Silkyara village within the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. The villagers’ claims come from a significant disaster by which 41 staff had been trapped within the particles after a portion of the under-construction tunnel, a part of the bold Char Dham all-weather street challenge, collapsed because of a landslide.
As the reduction and rescue operations entered day 10 on Tuesday (November 21), the locals believed that the incident passed off because of the demolition of the temple.
After preliminary efforts to rescue the trapped staff failed, temple priest Ganesh Prasad Bijalwan mentioned, firm officers referred to as him, apologised and requested him to carry out a particular puja.
He carried out the puja and prayed for the success of the operation to rescue the employees.
“Uttarakhand is the land of gods. There is a tradition of building a small temple for the local deity before building any bridge, road or tunnel. The work is completed only after taking their blessings,” the priest mentioned.
What did the locals say?
A neighborhood resident mentioned that the labourers used to supply prayers each day on the temple earlier than coming into the tunnel for building, nevertheless, it was brought down by the development firm days earlier than the incident, which led to the accident.
“Before the challenge began, a small temple was constructed close to the mouth of the tunnel and out of respect for native beliefs, officers and labourers used to enter the tunnel solely after providing prayers. However, just a few days in the past, the development firm administration eliminated the temple from there and folks believe that because of this, the accident occurred,” Dhanveer Chand Ramola, a resident of Silkyara village, mentioned.
Another villager Rakesh Nautiyal mentioned that the locals had requested the corporate to not carry down the temple and claimed that the corporate rejected their suggestion calling it a “superstition”.
“We had asked the construction company not to demolish the temple and if they had to do so, to build another temple nearby. But the company rejected our suggestion saying it was our superstition and see what happened,” Nautiyal claimed.
“Earlier too, in the initial stage of the project, a part of the tunnel had caved in but not a single worker got trapped nor was there any other kind of loss because the temple still stood there,” he added.
International tunnelling knowledgeable provides prayers on the new temple
International tunnelling knowledgeable Arnold Dix, who heads the Geneva-based International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, was seen bowing down earlier than a temple constructed on the fundamental entrance of the tunnel. Dix has been referred to as to assessment the continuing rescue operation.
Dix has expressed perception that the employees might be rescued safely.
(With PTI inputs)
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