Silkyara tunnel mission's rat-hole miner's house razed, Delhi LG reacts

Wakeel Hassan, one of the rat-hole miners who was a part of the Silkyara tunnel collapse rescue efforts, was left homeless after his house was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) as part of a demolition drive in Delhi's Khajoori Khas area.

Hassan was part of the rat-hole miners' team that had saved the lives of 41 workers, who were trapped in the 4.5 km-long Silkyara-Barkot tunnel. The tunnel, located in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, had collapsed in November leaving the workers trapped for days.

DDA offers house to Hassan

Following the incident, the DDA offered Hassan temporary accommodation but he declined the offer. The officials have also offered him a house in the Govindpuri area but he refused the deal.

"Around midnight, some DDA officers came and offered to shift me and my family to a guest house in Vasant Kunj," he said. He also said that he was told by the DDA officials that "a house will also be provided in the Govindpuri area soon, but I refused to accept their offer because the assurance was verbal".

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Reacting to the incident, Delhi LG VK Saxena said on Thursday that Hassan will be compensated for the action. "I have been told about it and we will definitely compensate. He will be provided a house too," the LG noted.

Amid the developments, his family was spotted having dinner amid the rubble of what used to be their home. Hassan and several other peoples' houses were demolished as part of DDA drive.

What was Silkyara tunnel rescue operation?

"We rescued 41 people from the Silkyara tunnel and got this in return," he lamented.

During the collapse of the Silkayara tunnel, nearly a dozen rate-hole miners were brought from Delhi to remove the last remaining 12 metres of debris. They had worked for hours to remove the debris to push a pipe through it in order to rescue the workers trapped in the under-construction tunnel for 17 days.

(With PTI inputs)