Himalayan Hazards

Road-building in India's Himalayan regions has to be untaken with extreme care. This location is very prone to landslides and earthquakes. The Silkyara-Barkot tunnel was just one component of the $1.5bn, 550 mile, Char Dham highway project, linking four Hindu pilgrimage sites. The tunnel's collapse, trapped 41 labourers for 17 days (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/28/indian-rescuers-reach-41-men-trapped-in-tunnel). The Silkyara-Barkot tunnel had no emergency exit and was built through a geological fault. Very fortunately, the trapped labourers were able to be supplied with oxygen, food, water and medications through a small water pipe surviving the collapse of the tunnel's roof. It seems likely that a landslide caused the collapse. The labourers were eventually rescued by a combination of hi-tech (drilling machines) and low-tech (a team using banned 'rat-hole mining). India's National Highways Authority has now been instructed to audit 29 other tunnels. Even grandiose schemes in the Himalayas need to take geology into account.