Three workers remain trapped inside a collapsed tunnel at Mayapur (Pipalchauri), Chamoli district — and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has made their rescue the state's single highest priority. On Friday, 14 August 2026, CM Dhami flew to the site and chaired an emergency review meeting at the THDC Guest House, Pipalchauri, directing every available resource toward getting those three people out alive.

What Dhami ordered at the Pipalchauri war-room

The Chief Minister's instructions were unambiguous: accelerate the rescue, deploy all technical expertise, and — critically — keep the rescue teams themselves safe. He directed continuous monitoring of the tunnel's structural condition, water drainage inside the collapsed section, and debris-clearance progress. Speed matters, but not at the cost of sending more workers into danger.

Dhami also called for tighter coordination among the five agencies working the site: NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, the Uttarakhand Police, district administration, and THDC India Ltd. teams. In high-altitude Himalayan rescues, that inter-agency seam is often where operations slow down. The CM's explicit instruction to 'maintain better coordination' signals awareness of exactly that risk.

Compensation orders for the dead, care for the injured

The meeting did not focus only on those still trapped. CM Dhami ordered that families of workers killed in the accident receive admissible compensation and financial assistance shighra (promptly) under applicable rules. Injured workers must be guaranteed quality medical care. Affected families, he said, should receive every possible administrative support — a directive that puts the district machinery on notice.

The review was attended by Bharat Chaudhary (District In-charge Minister), Tharali MLA Bhupal Ram Tamta, District Panchayat President Daulat Singh Bisht, Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman, Garhwal Commissioner Anand Swaroop, IG Garhwal Rajeev Swaroop, DM Gaurav Kumar, and SP Surjit Singh Panwar.

Why Chamoli tunnels keep making headlines

THDC India Ltd., a central public sector undertaking, is developing several hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand's geologically volatile Himalayas — terrain prone to rockfalls, water ingress, and landslides. Chamoli district has seen some of the state's most severe disaster events, including the 2021 Rishi Ganga flash flood that killed over 200 people, many of them tunnel workers. The region's geology does not forgive engineering shortcuts.

Since the 2013 Kedarnath floods, Uttarakhand has formalised multi-agency rescue protocols under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, which also mandates state governments to ensure compensation for victims of industrial accidents. Friday's CM-led review follows that established playbook — but the presence of the Chief Minister at the site, not in Dehradun, signals the political weight being placed on the outcome.

The rescue of three trapped workers is the immediate test. What happens after — any inquiry into safety lapses at the THDC construction site — will determine whether this incident becomes a turning point or another entry in a long, painful ledger.