Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A touchstone of risk: On the rescue efforts in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi

A touchstone of risk: On the rescue efforts in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi

Extra precautions must be in place while carving through mountains

Sunday went by, and while a day of rest for many, it marked two weeks since 41 construction workers, building a tunnel as part of an ambitious road widening project, got trapped inside. There is a massive rescue operation under way. When reports of the mishap (दुर्घटना) first came in, nothing in the preliminary assessment by state authorities suggested that this would be such a drawn-out (लंबा किया हुआ) and challenging exercise. The Silkyara Bend Tunnel is a part of the Char Dham Pariyojana (project) in Uttarakhand that aims to improve connectivity to the religious pilgrimage sites of Gangotri, Yamnotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. The trapped workers were extending National Highway 134 to cut travel time by an hour. Now, hundreds of hours have been spent in what so far appears to be a slapdash (लापरवाही से, बेपरवाही से) rescue operation. The entrapped workers and their families are undergoing extreme psychological stress. In hindsight (पश्च दृष्टि, बाद में समझ आना), all this suggests that this was a project that ought not to have commenced in the first place.

Even prior to this mishap, environmentalists, scientists, and local residents had raised concerns about the Char Dham Pariyojana. The project, which involves widening 900 km of roads via tunnels, culverts (पुल), by-passes and bridges, has long been criticised because it involves carving through Himalayan mountains in ways that greatly increase the chances of landslides and associated disasters. While the project was finally approved by the Supreme Court, in the interests of “national security”, the government adopted the unusual measure of avoiding a comprehensive environment impact assessment (EIA) of the Char Dham Pariyojana by breaking it up into smaller, independent ventures. The peril (जोखिम, खतरा) of doing so is precisely what has unfolded: that the risks involved in engineering projects, in fragile (नाज़ुक, कमज़ोर) ecosystems, are not properly accounted for (उत्तरदायी होना, हिसाब में लेना). This is certainly not to suggest that engineering projects in the Himalayas are in principle flawed. The smoother roadways and newer economic opportunities that they may bring are worthwhile considerations and it is precisely to weigh the risks against the benefits that the EIA exists. Despite several instances of roads being washed away and dams breached, there is still the lack of an awareness that infrastructure development in fragile terrain requires much greater scrutiny, expertise and project-monitoring skills — and therefore much higher costs — than similar exercises in the plains and cities. The Silkyara tunnel disaster must serve as a touchstone (कसौटी, पैमाना) against which future projects will be evaluated.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Touchstone (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कसौटी, पैमाना
English Meaning - A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated.

2.Mishap (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दुर्घटना
English Meaning - An instance of misfortune.

3.Drawn-out (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - लंबा किया हुआ
English Meaning - Relatively long in duration.

4.Slapdash (abverb)

Hindi Meaning - लापरवाही से, बेपरवाही से
English Meaning - Marked by great carelessness.

5.Hindsight (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पश्च दृष्टि, बाद में समझ आना
English Meaning - Understanding the nature of an event after it has happened.

6.Culvert (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पुल
English Meaning - A transverse and totally enclosed drain under a road or railway.

7.Peril (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जोखिम, खतरा
English Meaning - A source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune.

8.Fragile (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - नाज़ुक, कमज़ोर
English Meaning - Vulnerably delicate.

9.Account for (verb)

Hindi Meaning - उत्तरदायी होना, हिसाब में लेना
English Meaning - Be the reason or explanation for.