The 41 workers, who were pulled out of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Tuesday, were airlifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Rishikesh for a health check-up on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met with each worker personally; he also handed them a cheque of ₹1 lakh each as ‘appreciation’ for remaining motivated and hopeful through the 17 hazardous days.
The Chief Minister also announced ₹50,000 each to the rat-hole miners who manually dug through nearly 18 metres inside the tunnel after all the drilling machines had failed.
“What we gave them is not compensation but appreciation,” Mr. Dhami said adding that it was due to the high moral courage and patience of the workers as well as the tireless hard work of all the agencies and personnel involved in the rescue operation, that a victory was achieved after 17 arduous days.
