Late on the night of 13 August 2026, debris and water flooded into a tunnel under construction by THDC (Tehri Hydro Development Corporation) at Mayapur (Peepalkoti), Chamoli — and within hours, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had rushed to the State Disaster Operations Centre, Dehradun, personally seizing command of the rescue operation.

According to the Chief Minister's Office, 22 workers were trapped inside the tunnel when the incident struck. By the time the update was issued, 16 had been rescued safely — with the operation continuing at full pace to reach the remaining individuals. The CM's office described his directive in unambiguous terms: every single person must come out alive, and any slackness in rescue work will not be tolerated.

Video call to rescued workers, war-footing orders to agencies

From the operations centre, CM Dhami held a video conference directly with workers who had already been brought out, asking about their condition and — in his words — boosting their morale. He assured them that the state government stood firmly behind them and that full arrangements for their upchar aur punarvas (treatment and rehabilitation) would be made without delay.

Simultaneously, Dhami maintained continuous contact with senior officers of the Chamoli district administration, SDRF, NDRF, ITBP, and the Army — the multi-agency grid that Uttarakhand has institutionalised since the 2013 Kedarnath disaster. Instructions went out to run the rescue on a yuddh star — war footing — with no gaps in coordination.

Gaurav Kumar on the ground, AIIMS evacuation on standby

District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar is personally supervising operations at the tunnel mouth in Chamoli. Police, SDRF, NDRF, ITBP, and Army teams are working jointly, with machinery, equipment, and medical resources already mobilised at the site.

CM Dhami separately spoke with the Deputy CMO, directing that injured workers receive the best available medical care immediately — and that if any case is critical, helicopter evacuation to AIIMS or another apex medical institution must be arranged without hesitation. The instruction was explicit: no shortfall in treatment will be acceptable.

Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan and Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman were present at the operations centre alongside all relevant officials as the CM coordinated the response through the night.

Chamoli's geology and the tunnel-incident pattern

This incident fits a recurring and sobering pattern. Chamoli district sits in one of the most geologically active zones of the Himalayas — a landscape shaped by tectonic stress, seasonal monsoon pressure, and the relentless demands of hydropower infrastructure. Water ingress and debris collapses in under-construction tunnels have struck the region before, each time testing the speed and depth of the state's emergency response machinery.

Uttarakhand's post-2013 disaster management framework — built around the State Disaster Management Authority and rapid multi-agency deployment — is precisely what activated tonight. The speed with which SDRF, NDRF, ITBP, and Army units converged on Mayapur reflects years of protocol-building after the Kedarnath catastrophe.

Sixteen workers are out. Six are not. Until every last one walks free, the rescue runs at full strength — and the Chief Minister has made clear he will not leave the command post until it does.