Jaymal Singh Negi mentioned that his brother informed him about the trapped men engaging in yoga and exercises inside the tunnel.
The labourers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes, they said.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa reports how recommendations by the National Disaster Management Authority were ignored and how mining projects have contributed to the disaster.
'We humans may not have not created natural disasters, but we have definitely amplified their impact.'
The statements on Joshimath are creating confusion not only among affected residents but also among citizens of the country.
The death toll from the Uttarakhand glacier disaster rose to 31 with five more bodies being recovered, officials said on Tuesday as multiple agencies raced against time to reach about 30 workers trapped inside a tunnel in a power project site and 175 people remained missing.
The 41 workers, who were rescued from Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation, kept their spirits up while trapped inside by taking morning walks and practising yoga, a rescued worker told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Water level of the river Kali has been continuously rising and reached the danger level.
A senior Uttarakhand official at the site said drilling was complete.
Rescue operations to evacuate 41 workers trapped in the tunnel resumed on Thursday morning after an iron mesh that had come in the path of the auger machine drilling an escape path was removed.
A chlorine gas leak in the Jhajhra area of Dehradun triggered panic on Tuesday morning, forcing people to leave their homes, officials said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday constituted a Cabinet committee to oversee reconstruction and rehabilitation in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
The Uttarakhand high court on Monday sought replies from the state government and central agencies within 48 hours on the ongoing operation and measures taken to rescue 41 workers trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi for more than a week.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday reviewed relief and rescue operations with senior officials of the government after returning to Dehradun from on-site inspection of Joshimath landslide area gave directions for forming a coordination committee immediately at the government level under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary and at the local level under the chairmanship of the Commissioner Garhwal.
Uttarakhand minister Satpal Maharaj said an inquiry will be conducted to find out how multi-storey buildings were allowed to be constructed in Joshimath which has been sinking for at least 20 years.
He said he has spoken to the trapped labourers.
As many as 2,425 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh are stranded in various places of rain-ravaged Uttarakhand, state officials said in Hyderabad.
The weather office on Monday forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next three days over some parts of Uttarakhand, which is still recovering from a deluge last week that is feared to have taken over 1,000 lives.
Tourism is badly affected. Entire apple orchards have been washed away. 2 million people are threatened with loss of livelihood.
The moment four National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel arrived on the other side of the rubble at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand to rescue 41 labourers trapped inside, their hopes of a safe evacuation were kindled, team commander Manmohan said.
Now, the recent heavy rain has sparked panic among the disaster-hit families of Joshimath.
"There are democratically elected institutions to look into it. Everything important should not come to us. We will list it on January 16," the CJI said.
Hotels Malari Inn and Mount View, which have developed more cracks, will be demolished on Tuesday.
Officials said 13 more families living in houses with huge cracks were moved by the administration to safe locations on Sunday.
"The new food supply pipeline has also made it easier to supply better food in larger quantities to them, which is a good thing. Otherwise the situation remains the same," said Negi, who spoke to his brother.
It seems that the government is deliberately playing down the role the armed forces have played in the relief of operations. Why is the state government reluctant to do so? Why is it also not ready to accept help from other states, asks Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
Feroze Qureshi and Monu Kumar, experts in the rat-hole mining technique, were the first to meet the 41 labourers rescued from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand after they cleared the last bit of the rubble inside the structure.
The leader of the 12-member team from Rockwell Enterprises, Wakeel Hassan, said he was approached for help by a company involved in the rescue operation four days ago. "The work got delayed while removing the portion of the auger from the rubble. We started at 3 pm on Monday and finished the work at 6 pm on Tuesday," Hassan said, adding, "We had said the work would be finished in 24 to 36 hours and that is what we did."
'These are people whom very few give importance and they were doing a mammoth job for the nation.'
There are lessons to be learnt from the Uttarakhand tragedy. Topping the list is the need to immediately stop mindless construction activity in the Himalayan hills, says Nitish Priyadarshi
Boring through the rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel was put on hold again on Thursday apparently after cracks appeared in the platform on which the drilling machine rests, in a fresh hurdle to the rescue of 41 workers trapped inside for 11 days.
Spiritual head of Ajmer Dargah, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan on Saturday requested political and non-political groups in the country to avoid holding public Roza iftar parties in view of the recent Uttarakhand tragedy.
Fresh incidents of cloudburst, landslides and house collapses were reported in Uttarakhand after moderate to heavy rains lashed the state.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who is in Delhi, expressed grief at the loss of lives and announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the families of the victims.
On January 10, the top court had refused urgent hearing of the plea, saying there are 'democratically elected institutions' to deal with the situation and all important matters should not come to it.
In the video, the workers, wearing yellow and white helmets, are seen receiving food items sent to them through the pipeline and talking to each other.
Rescue operations are in full swing in Uttarakhand where the death toll in the rain and floods has gone up to 150 as thousands of pilgrims still remained stranded.
A large number of people are feared trapped in the debris and rescue operations have been launched, Disaster Management and Mitigation department officials in Dehrdun said citing initial reports.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that the situation in Uttarakhand is better than what it was on Tuesday and Food Minister K V Thomas is taking steps to rush more food grains to the flood-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala asked petitioner Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati to approach the Uttarakhand high court with his petition.
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