The Silkyara Tunnel Scandal: Money, Politics, and a Deadly Collapse

The rescue of 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel for 17 harrowing days captured global attention in November 2023. But behind the heroic rescue operation lies a troubling story of electoral bonds, IT raids, and questionable corporate-political nexus that deserves scrutiny.

The Project That Went Wrong

The Silkyara-Barkot tunnel, a 4.85-kilometer stretch on National Highway 134, was meant to be a crown jewel of the Modi government's ambitious Char Dham all-weather accessibility project. Instead, it became a symbol of everything wrong with India's infrastructure development process.

On November 12, 2023, at 5:30 AM, a section of the under-construction tunnel collapsed, trapping 41 workers inside. What followed was a complex 17-day rescue operation involving international experts, highlighting serious safety failures in the project's execution.

The Company Behind the Tunnel

The tunnel project was awarded to Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd (NEC) on May 31, 2018, through an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).

NEC isn't a small player—as of December 2021, the company boasted an order book worth ₹22,651.58 crores, making it a significant contractor in India's infrastructure sector.

A Suspicious Timeline

Here's where the story gets interesting. The sequence of events reveals a pattern that raises serious questions about the relationship between corporate donations and government contracts:

May 31, 2018: NHIDCL awards the Silkyara tunnel project to Navayuga Engineering

October 26, 2018: Just five months after winning the contract, NEC faces Income Tax raids by central authorities

April 18, 2019: Six months after the IT raids, NEC purchases its first tranche of electoral bonds worth ₹30 crores—buying 30 individual bonds of ₹1 crore denomination each

October 10, 2022: NEC purchases another ₹10 crore worth of electoral bonds

November 12, 2023: The tunnel collapses, trapping 41 workers

The ₹55 Crore Question

In total, Navayuga Engineering purchased electoral bonds worth ₹55 crores, with the entire amount donated to the BJP according to Election Commission data. This substantial sum raises critical questions:

• Was the ₹30 crore donation in April 2019 a response to the IT raid pressure six months earlier?
• Did these donations influence the company's ability to secure more government contracts?
• How did a company under IT scrutiny continue to receive major infrastructure projects?

The Aftermath: Justice Delayed?

Despite the tunnel collapse that endangered 41 lives and exposed serious safety failures, no FIR has been lodged against Navayuga Engineering Company. The workers were eventually rescued after a marathon 17-day operation, but questions about accountability remain unanswered.

The incident highlights systemic issues in India's infrastructure development:

• Lack of proper safety protocols during construction
• Insufficient oversight of major contractors
• The potential influence of political donations on contract awards and regulatory action

The Bigger Picture

The Silkyara tunnel case isn't just about one project or one company. It's a window into how India's electoral bond system—now struck down by the Supreme Court—potentially allowed corporations to influence policy and escape accountability through strategic political donations.

The timeline suggests a troubling pattern: face regulatory action, donate to the ruling party, continue business as usual. Even when projects fail catastrophically, the lack of criminal proceedings raises questions about whether political donations provide a shield from consequences.

What This Means for India's Infrastructure

As India pushes ahead with massive infrastructure projects under initiatives like Gati Shakti and Char Dham connectivity, the Silkyara case offers sobering lessons:

1. Transparency in contract awards: The process needs stronger oversight and public scrutiny
2. Accountability for failures: Companies responsible for safety lapses must face consequences
3. Political funding reform: The electoral bond system's opacity enabled potential quid pro quo arrangements

The 41 workers who spent 17 days trapped underground were eventually rescued, thanks to the heroic efforts of rescue teams. But the deeper questions about corporate accountability, political influence, and infrastructure safety remain buried beneath layers of bureaucratic silence.

Until we address these systemic issues, more Silkyara-like disasters may be inevitable—with workers paying the price for a system that prioritizes political donations over safety and accountability.

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The Supreme Court's decision to strike down the electoral bond scheme in February 2024 came too late to prevent cases like Silkyara, but it offers hope for greater transparency in political funding going forward.

Himalayas Crying: What Dharali and Silkyara Tell Us About Our Mountain Madness

The Himalayas Are Crying

What Dharali and Silkyara Tell Us About Our Mountain Madness

Why our rush to "develop" the mountains is literally bringing them down on our heads

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Remember Silkyara? Now Meet Dharali

In 2023 November, 41 workers were trapped for 17 days in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. The world watched as rescue teams fought to save them. We called it a "miracle" when they emerged alive. But what if it wasn't an accident at all?

Fast forward to the recent incident at Dharali, a small village just 25 kilometers from the famous Gangotri temple. Another landslide. More lives disrupted. Another "natural disaster"—or so the headlines claimed.

But here's what the headlines didn't tell you: Both Silkyara and Dharali sit along the same massive construction project that's literally reshaping the Himalayas. And both disasters have the same father—our obsession with cutting through mountains as if they were made of butter, not billion-year-old rock.

The Char Dham Project: A Highway to Disaster?

Picture this: You decide to widen your street by cutting into your neighbor's house foundation. What happens? The house becomes unstable and eventually collapses. Now imagine doing this not to one house, but to an entire mountain range that's already sitting in an earthquake zone.

That's essentially what the Char Dham Highway Project is doing. This ₹12,000 crore project aims to widen 900 kilometers of mountain roads to connect four holy sites: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. Noble goal, right? Better roads for pilgrims, easier access to remote areas, economic development.

But here's the catch: to build these roads, contractors are slicing through hillsides at dangerously steep angles—sometimes 80 degrees, which is almost vertical. International safety standards say never go beyond 45 degrees. It's like trying to lean a heavy bookshelf against a wall at 80 degrees and expecting it to stay put.

The Numbers Don't Lie

A recent study looked at 811 landslides along 800 kilometers of Char Dham routes. The shocking finding? 81% of these landslides happened within 100 meters of road construction.

Let that sink in. Four out of five landslides occurred right next to where they were building roads. This isn't bad luck—it's bad planning.

Dharali sits just 0-5 kilometers from this construction zone. The village is basically living next door to a geological time bomb that we created.

From Silkyara to Dharali: A Pattern Emerges

The Silkyara tunnel collapse and Dharali landslides aren't isolated incidents. They're part of a dangerous pattern:

Silkyara Tunnel (November 2023):

• Part of the Char Dham project
• Collapsed during construction, trapping 41 workers
• Built through unstable geological zones without adequate safety measures

Dharali Landslides (Ongoing):

• Village sits along Char Dham highway route
• Repeated landslides since construction began
• Area identified as one of 60 landslide-prone zones in Uttarkashi district

Both locations share the same problem: aggressive construction in one of the world's most unstable mountain ranges, where even a small disturbance can trigger catastrophic failures.

Why Mountains Don't Like Being Cut

Think of a hillside like a house of cards. Each rock, each tree root, each grain of soil plays a role in keeping everything stable. When you remove trees (which act like natural glue holding soil together), blast through rocks, and cut steep slopes, you're pulling out cards from the bottom of the pile.

Add monsoon rains—which can dump 80mm of water in 24 hours—and you've created a perfect recipe for disaster. The water flows down these unnatural steep cuts, washing away soil and lubricating potential slide zones.

In Uttarkashi district alone, there are now 60 landslide-prone zones along the pilgrimage routes. Thirteen of these are classified as "highly sensitive." That's not natural—that's human-made vulnerability.

The Swiss Don't Have This Problem

Switzerland has been building mountain roads for over a century. Norway tunnels through mountains routinely. Japan constructs highways in earthquake zones. None of them face the scale of landslide problems we're seeing in Uttarakhand.

Why? They follow basic rules:

• Never cut slopes steeper than 45 degrees
• Install proper drainage systems
• Replant vegetation immediately
• Monitor slopes continuously

These aren't rocket science techniques. They're Construction 101 for mountain areas. But following them costs 15% more upfront—money that's apparently too precious to spend on human lives.

The Real Cost of Cheap Construction

Here's the cruel irony: India spends over ₹500 crores every year cleaning up landslides and repairing damaged roads. That's money spent on fixing problems that could have been prevented with proper construction techniques costing just 15% more initially.

It's like buying the cheapest umbrella available, then spending five times more replacing it every time it breaks in the rain. Except in this case, when our "umbrella" breaks, people die.

Beyond Roads: The Bigger Picture

The Char Dham highway isn't the only culprit. The region is also seeing:

• Char Dham Railway Project: More tunneling and blasting
• Hydroelectric projects: Dams and diversions affecting river systems
• Tourism boom: Unregulated hotel construction on unstable slopes

It's like performing surgery with multiple doctors operating simultaneously without coordinating. Each project alone might be manageable, but together they're overwhelming the mountains' ability to cope.

What Dharali and Silkyara Teach Us

These disasters are sending us a clear message: the Himalayas have limits. Push too hard, too fast, and they push back—with landslides, tunnel collapses, and floods.

This doesn't mean we should stop all development. It means we need to develop intelligently:

Immediate fixes:

• Stop all construction with slopes steeper than 45 degrees
• Install proper drainage systems on existing roads
• Plant vegetation on all cut slopes immediately
• Create real-time monitoring systems

Long-term solutions:

• Learn from international best practices
• Invest in alternative transportation (cable cars, better rail links)
• Make geological safety mandatory, not optional
• Include local communities in planning

The Choice Is Ours

Dharali didn't choose to become a landslide hotspot. The 41 workers in Silkyara didn't sign up to be buried alive. These are consequences of our choices—choices made in Delhi boardrooms and state secretariat buildings by people who'll never live with the consequences.

We can continue this path, creating scenic highways that become graveyards. Or we can choose to build infrastructure that works with the mountains, not against them.

The mountains have been here for millions of years. They'll outlast our highways, our tunnels, and our ambitions. The question is: will we learn to respect them before they teach us respect the hard way?

Every landslide is a lesson. Every tunnel collapse is a warning. Dharali and Silkyara are speaking to us. The question is: are we listening?

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Related Articles:

• "Big landslide rise on Char Dham route, unscientific hill cuts to blame: Study" - Times of India, 2025
• "Uttarakhand tunnel: Why its collapse is starting a wake-up call" - BBC, November 2023
• "Char Dham project 75% complete, benefits and concerns" - article by Sriram IAS  on his website
• "Locals protest BRO's green nod for Char Dham road widening project" - Hindustan Times
• "New landslide zones activated on Char Dham road: Experts" - Hindustan Times

India's Conscience: When Caregivers Become Criminals

Preface: A Journey of Hope Turned to Heartache

The recent arrest of two Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has sent shockwaves through communities dedicated to compassion and service. This isn't just a legal case; it's a deeply human story where a mission of care, trust, and opportunity was tragically twisted into a tale of alleged crime. Crucially, a first-hand account from Kamleshwari Pradhan, one of the young women traveling with the nuns, offers a stark contrast to the official narrative. Here's the video in Hindi: 

Her testimony reveals a consensual journey, driven by the simple hope of employment, and challenges the very foundation of the accusations. It forces us to look beyond headlines and consider the real people caught in a web of suspicion and injustice.

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1. Helping Hands Accused: The Durg Incident

On July 25, 2025, Sister Preeti Mary (45) and Sister Vandana Francis (50), two Catholic nuns, were detained at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh. They were traveling with a youth, Sukaman Mandavi (19), and three tribal girls. Their journey was meant to lead to a new opportunity: cooking jobs for the girls, offering a monthly salary of ₹10,000, along with food, clothes, and accommodation. The nuns, belonging to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, are part of an order widely respected for its extensive work in palliative care and social service, including programs that create employment. Yet, despite their mission of service, they were arrested and charged with human trafficking and forced religious conversion. This incident immediately raises a profound question: how can acts of assistance be so easily reframed as criminal acts?

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2. A Trust Betrayed: The Human Story Behind the Charges

The accusations against the nuns crumble when faced with the human truth from those directly involved. Kamleshwari Pradhan, one of the young women, speaks plainly: the nuns weren't "taking" them anywhere forcibly. They were simply helping the girls, who had never traveled outside Narayanpur before, reach a legitimate work opportunity safely. "We said that sir, brother, we have never been there before, so please drop us off there," she recounted, highlighting the consensual and trusting nature of their journey.

Kamleshwari’s testimony exposes a disturbing undercurrent of coercion during the incident. She bravely shared how Jyoti Sharma, an individual reportedly linked to the Bajrang Dal, threatened another girl, allegedly saying, "if you don't speak, I will beat your brother" and "I will beat him and put him in jail." This chilling account reveals how fear can be used to extract false statements, leaving individuals distressed and manipulated, as Kamleshwari described the girl crying and admitting, "I was made to lie." The religious conversion charge also falls apart: Kamleshwari's family had embraced Christianity years earlier, making any accusation of forced conversion during this trip entirely baseless. This isn't a story of forceful conversion or trafficking, but of a journey of hope distorted by external pressures.

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3. When Compassion Becomes Dangerous: A Wider Shadow

This isn't an isolated incident; it's a painful reflection of a growing trend where acts of compassion, especially from minority communities, are viewed with suspicion and hostility. Across India, there's a disturbing pattern of service-oriented individuals and organizations facing baseless accusations and harassment. We've seen the tragic fate of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest dedicated to tribal rights, who died in custody after being arrested on contentious charges. The devastating violence in Manipur, beginning in May 2023, where over 200 people lost their lives and 60,000 were displaced, with hundreds of churches reportedly destroyed, serves as a stark reminder of the extreme vulnerabilities faced by minority communities.

Statistics echo this alarming reality: organizations like the United Christian Forum (UCF) reported 834 incidents against Christians in 2024 alone, a significant increase from previous years. These numbers aren't just figures; they represent lives disrupted, trust broken, and communities living in fear. The Durg incident fits into this broader narrative, where a climate of intolerance appears to allow mob behavior and accusations to take precedence over genuine justice and human dignity.

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4. Our Shared Humanity: Challenging Divisive Narratives

This situation compels us to reflect on our shared humanity and the values that truly define India. A narrow mindset, often fueled by certain narratives, seeks to divide us based on religion, creating an "us vs. them" mentality that undermines the very fabric of our diverse society. This divisive approach encourages suspicion and distrust, often turning neighbor against neighbor. It’s a tragic irony when a nation that boasts about its global influence, with Indian-origin leaders making waves worldwide, struggles with ensuring basic dignity and safety for its own minorities at home.

However, India’s strength has always been its rich tapestry of cultures and faiths. We see countless examples of interfaith cooperation and solidarity every day, reminding us that harmony is deeply embedded in the Indian spirit. These acts of everyday kindness and shared community often go uncelebrated, but they are the true testament to our pluralistic identity, far removed from the aggressive, divisive agendas that seek to create fear and discord.

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5. A Call for India's Conscience: Choosing Our Future

What kind of India do we want to build for our children? One where those offering help are jailed, or one where compassion is celebrated? One where fear dictates our interactions, or one where mutual respect prevails? This moment demands we look inward and choose the path forward. It's about ensuring that our national aspirations for global leadership are matched by our commitment to justice and human dignity within our own borders.

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Conclusion: Upholding Our Constitutional Promise

The Durg incident, alongside a disturbing pattern of events across India, highlights an urgent need to reaffirm our nation's foundational commitment to justice, pluralism, and fundamental rights.

• Baseless Charges & Due Process: The charges of human trafficking and religious conversion against the nuns are baseless, directly contradicted by the consensual nature of the journey and clear evidence of alleged coercion during the investigation. This points to a severe breakdown of due process and the impartial application of law.

• Systemic Vulnerability: The escalating attacks on minorities, as seen in Manipur and the case of Fr. Stan Swamy, indicate a systemic vulnerability for minority communities and a concerning erosion of state protection, directly challenging the principles of equality and security for all citizens.

• Constitutional Values Under Threat: The increasing religious polarization and the rise of mob behavior undermine Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to practice and propagate religion. It also strains the secular fabric of our nation, impacting fundamental constitutional rights and the rule of law.

This is not merely a legal or political debate; it is a moral imperative. As a nation built on diversity, our strength lies in upholding the principles of equality and freedom for every individual, irrespective of their faith.

What You Can Do:

• Demand Accountability: Reach out to your elected representatives at both state and central levels to voice your concerns. Demand transparency and accountability in such cases, emphasizing the need for swift and impartial justice.

• Support Rights Defenders: Support organizations like the United Christian Forum (UCF) and other human rights groups that provide crucial legal and humanitarian aid to victims of religious persecution. Your support helps ensure that those unjustly targeted have access to justice and legal defense.

• Promote Dialogue: Engage actively in your communities to foster understanding and counter divisive narratives. Advocate for constitutional values, pluralism, and shared humanity, helping to build bridges rather than walls between communities.

It is imperative that we, as Indians, stand together to protect vulnerable communities, ensure due process, and champion the rule of law, thereby preserving the true spirit of our democratic republic and ensuring our journey towards a truly just and developed India.