40 workers are feared trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand after a part of the under-construction structure collapsed today.
No casualties have been reported so far.
The tunnel is meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.
Authorities said that nearly 200 metres of the slab will have to be cleared to open the tunnel. A narrow opening has been made to insert an oxygen pipe in the tunnel and help the trapped labourers.
Efforts are on to open the tunnel and rescue the trapped workers from the tunnel.
It is being built under the Char Dham Road Project and aims to reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 kilometres.
Police said the incident occurred around 4 am when a 150-metre-long portion of the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long tunnel collapsed.
As soon as information about the incident was received, the district administration sounded an alert and Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi reached the spot.
The rescue operations are being conducted by the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) and the police.
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