Delhi: Manoj Tiwari, Virendra Sachdeva felicitate 6 rat miners for contributing to resuce of trapped workers

New Delhi [India], December 1 (ANI): Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Virendra Sachdeva and party MP Manoj Tiwari on Friday felicitated six rat-hole miners who helped rescue 41 trapped workers from the Silkyara Tunnel.
The BJP leader and MP, Manoj Tiwari, also gave Rs 25,000 to each of the six rat miners at the event.
"We salute these people. These are the people from where I am the Member of Parliament (North-East-Delhi). We honoured them with our entire team and gave an award of Rs 25,000 to all of them. We want the Delhi government and CM Arvind Kejriwal to honour these all by giving a big reward," Manoj Tiwari said.
Speaking on the matter, Virendra Sachdeva said that it was a difficult task to rescue 41 workers trapped in the tunnel and we salute them for their commendable work.
"These six people have done excellent work and they are brave soldiers. Given the difficult situation, 41 people were trapped there, it was a huge task to go through an 800 mm pipe and rescue those workers. They have brought glory to Delhi and the country. The experiences they are narrating are quite shocking. These people have a big role in that operation, so we have come to congratulate them," he said.
Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal met the resilient rat miners who overcame the final hurdle to rescue the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel today at his residence.
When heavy machinery broke down in an effort to drill through the debris that had trapped 41 workers in the Silkyara tunnel, the rescuers resorted to rat-hole mining, a banned practise in the country.
Rat hole mining involves digging very small tunnels, through which skilled workers enter and extract coal or debris.
Rat mining rescue team leader Vakeel Hasan, while recounting his memories of the moment when the team of miners saw the workers, said that it was like offering water to a person who is about to die of thirst.
"It was a very emotional feeling when we saw them and they saw us. It was like a person getting some water on a deserted land. It was like everyone accomplished their purposes. We fulfilled the commitment that we made... All the workers came out of the tunnel without a scratch" Hassan told ANI after the successful rescue.
The rat-mining method has faced severe criticism due to its hazardous working conditions and numerous accidents leading to injuries and fatalities. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the practise in 2014 and retained the ban in 2015. (ANI)