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Описание: Lessons Learned: Informal Workers Safety and Sustainable Development in Wake of Silkyara Tunnel Rescue
In a Mirror Now debate discussing the rescue of 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, Uttarakhand, Sandeep Chachra, human rights defender and Executive Director of ActionAid Association, commended the resilience of the workers, families and agencies involved in the rescue efforts, and saluted the tireless efforts of the rescuers. Citing this episode as a moment of joy, Sandeep also praised the rat mine workers for risking their lives to rescue trapped individuals.
At the same time, Sandeep spoke on two key lessons we need to learn from the incident.
The first lesson focused on treating informal workers with dignity and ensuring people-centric futures, as well as accountability of private companies in safeguarding workers’ rights. Sandeep stressed the importance of occupational safety for workers and called for a thorough investigation into the Sikyara tunnel accident, as business and human rights is a growing arena that needs to be respected and well-implemented.
The issue of workers safety and occupational hazards needs our strong attention. Media reports speak about large number of accidents, while only a small fraction lead to punitive measures for offences under the Factories Act, 1948. With the bulk of India’ working population employed in the unregulated inform sector, the number of accidents without proper recourse to justice would most probably be much higher. Sandeep called for stricter regulations to ensure occupational safety, effective implementation and enforcement of safety measures, regular reviews, stakeholder consultations and continuous efforts to address emerging challenges.
The second lesson Sandeep cited is the need to rethink development in critical ecologies like the Himalayas, emphasising sustainable planning with nature to avoid environmental degradation and fragility, particularly in the context of climate change. Sandeep mentioned that construction of grey infrastructure and widening of roads has been creating landslides and degradation of forest areas. He said that the Joshi Math landslide, the recent floods in Himachal Pradesh, and then later in Sikkim and the tunnel collapse are all signs of this fragility, urging a reconsideration of construction activities in these vulnerable areas.

Telecast: 28 Nov 23 on Mirror Now