Editor,
Time is running out for the 41 labourers who are still trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi for eight days. Structural engineers familiar with tunnel drilling said that inadequate investigations prior to the excavation, or inappropriate tunnel building protocols were possible reasons that could have triggered the tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi. It is a criminal offence to evade environmental impact assessment and play with the lives of the labourers. This must be investigated properly. Our labourers deserve better treatment because it is they who build our roads, tunnels, buildings and bridges.
Sujit De,
Kolkata