Delhi: Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue Op Rat-Hole Miner Loses House In Demolition Drive, Assured One Under PMAY

Wakeel Hassan, one of the rat-hole miners behind the heroic rescue of the 41 workers trapped in Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel last year, lost his house to a demolition drive by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in Delhi's Khajoori Khas on Wednesday.

The DDA said the demolition drive was carried out on land that was “part of planned development land”. Police said several structures built illegally were demolished during the drive, a news agency PTI report mentioned.

Hassan said he had requested the authorities to give him the house but to no avail.

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"We rescued 41 people in the Silkyara tunnel and in return we got this. Earlier, I had requested the authorities and the government to give this house to us but to no avail. Today, without any information, DDA came and demolished it," Hassan said.

"On February 28, a demolition drive was conducted by the DDA to remove encroachment from its acquired land in village Khajoori Khas. The land was part of planned development land," the DDA said in a statement, in response to a query about the drive.

Hassan shared a video of the area, claiming the building he and his family was residing in was "razed in the drive".

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In the video clip, Hassan could also be seen saying that he had to go to a police station in connection with this incident.

In the video clip, he was accompanied by Munna Qureshi, another rat-hole miner who was part of the team that rescued the trapped workers. Qureshi claimed they were beaten up by the police.

Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari on Thursday said the now-demolished house of Wakeel Hassan had some "legal issues" and assured the miner that he will be given a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana very soon.

Meanwhile, a Delhi Police officer said several other structures that were built illegally were demolished by the authorities. "We gave them the assistance in controlling law and order during the drive," PTI quoted him as saying.

In November last year, 41 workers got trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi after a portion of it collapsed. After 17 days of rescue efforts, the workers were pulled out from the tunnel on November 28.

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A team of “rat-hole miners” had come to the rescue at the end after heavy machinery broke down.

Hassan and five other members of the rat-hole mining team live in north-east Delhi's Khajoori Khas, while the rest are from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr.

Hassan Declines Temporary Accommodation Offered By DDA

Hours after razing his house in the demolition drive, DDA offered to move Wakeel Hassan and his family to a temporary accommodation but he declined the offer, news agency PTI cited sources on Thursday.

Hassan told PTI that DDA officials also told him that he would soon be provided a house in the Govindpuri area but he refused to accept the offer as it was only a "verbal assurance".

Several TV channels showed Hassan and his family sitting and having dinner amid the rubble of what used to be their home. Hassan spent the night on a footpath with his wife and their two children. The family's neighbours' provided them food and other necessary items.

"Around midnight, some DDA officers came and offered to shift me and my family to a guest house in Vasant Kunj," Hassan was quoted as saying.

Hassan claimed the DDA officials also told him that "a house will also be provided in the Govindpuri area soon, but I refused to accept their offer because the assurance was verbal".