NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s heartfelt words about the Silkyara tunnel rescue operation, describing it as an “amazing example of humanity and teamwork,” resonate with the extraordinary resilience that India has demonstrated time and again in the face of adversity. The 17-day ordeal of the 41 workers trapped deep within the Silkyara tunnel stands as a testament to the indomitable human spirit. Amidst despair and uncertainty, these individuals, facing a life-threatening situation, found strength in unity and unwavering hope.
Throughout the rescue operation, Prime Minister Modi remained closely engaged, monitoring developments with utmost concern and deploying trusted officers to oversee and support the rescue efforts. His leadership and unwavering commitment to the well-being of the trapped workers embodied India’s collective spirit of resilience and unity.
Principal secretary to PM, P.K. Misra, monitored the operation and Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the PMO, camped in Silkyara till the 17-day mission ended. Accompanied by Khulbe, Deputy Secretary in the PMO, Mangesh Ghildiyal, also reached the site on 17 November.
Silkyara tunnel rescue is just the latest example of the proactive and compassionate touch that the PM tends to give to any rehabilitation and relief operation during tragedies and natural disasters, including Covid-19, floods, cloudbursts, cyclones, earthquakes or evacuation of stranded Indians from foreign lands, say experts.
His response to floods in Gujarat and Kashmir, the Nepal earthquake, and various other disasters has consistently reflected his concern for prioritising swift action, financial aid, and on-site assessments to address the immediate needs of affected communities. For Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest cyclones in recent years, PM Modi chaired high-level meetings to review preparedness, conducted an aerial survey of affected areas, and announced substantial financial aid to support rehabilitation efforts.
Similarly, during Cyclone Yaas, he undertook an aerial survey of affected areas in Gujarat and Diu, emphasising the importance of on-the-ground assessment. In response to Cyclone Takutae, the Prime Minister’s aerial survey emphasised his commitment to assessing the impact firsthand and coordinating relief efforts with state authorities. These are some of the less discussed aspects about the work of Prime Minister who himself is at the core of the new age disaster management approach that has even won praise from international humanitarian agencies. Incidentally, on the day the 41 trapped Silkyara workers stepped out of the tunnel the 6th World Congress on Disaster Management in Dehradun was deliberating upon the critical lessons from such incidents. At the event, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also unveiled a book, “Resilient India: How Modi Transformed India’s Disaster Management Paradigm”, which provides an exclusive and comprehensive insight into Prime Minister Modi’s extensive efforts in disaster handling and how he has brought about a “paradigm shift” with regard to disaster management in the country. The book, edited and compiled by Bluekraft Digital Foundation & Modi Story, captures the PM’s personal experiences since the Morbi flood in 1979 to the current tunnel rescue mission.
It also traces PM Modi’s contribution in the “gigantic shift” in the country’s disaster management paradigm, including resilience, preparedness, capacity building, community participation, and disaster risk reduction.
One chapter highlights PM Modi’s successful handling of the pandemic and how under his leadership India endured the Covid-19. There were innumerable casualties during the pandemic yet the country stunned many with its efficient handling of the situation. The PM took numerous innovative, bold, and quick decisions to address the pandemic. He led the enforcement of lockdowns effectively; facilitated the manufacturing of several effective vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield, among others; launched the world’s most expansive free vaccination drive; made vaccines accessible to more than 100 countries; and actively monitored the situation at the highest levels. As of March 2023, India has administered 2.2 billion doses of vaccines, said a brief about the book.
The book also highlights the PM’s visionary ten-point agenda, outlined during his inaugural speech at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in 2016, emphasising the need for coherence in international disaster response efforts. The agenda advocates for integrating disaster risk management principles into all development sectors, promoting women’s leadership, ensuring risk coverage for all, investing in global risk mapping, leveraging technology for efficient disaster management, establishing a network of universities dedicated to disaster issues, utilizing social media and mobile technologies, building local capacity, learning from post-disaster lessons, and fostering greater international cohesion in disaster response.
During the Morbi Dam Breach in 1979, which witnessed the loss of thousands of lives, Narendra Modi, aged 29, as a young pracharak of RSS, led the disaster management activities of the RSS. He contributed significantly in terms of rescue, relief, coordination, systemic handling, and enabling the reach of essential supplies to the victims, rehabilitation, amongst others. It was his initial first-hand experience in a disaster-handling exercise, according to a section in the book. A chapter on “Surat Plague: Modi’s quick response checked outbreak” talks about the 1994 tragedy and disaster management during it. Another tragedy was the Kutch earthquake in 2001, which claimed more than 13,000 lives. Once again, Modi rushed to Kutch, in the capacity of a volunteer and relief worker. He put all he knew, into practice, according to the publisher’s note on the book. “As Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi started working on the preparedness of the nation to face calamities. In 2014, the Kashmir Floods were the litmus test PM Modi faced when he applied all his experience to rescue affected people,” it said.
Some of the other personal experiences related to PM’s experiences documented in the book include the 2001 Kutch earthquake, Surat plague of 1994, Surat floods of 2006 and Uttarakhand floods of 2013, among others.