The Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough audit of all projects under implementation in the Himalayan region, stating that all future projects shoud be put on hold in the wake of Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand.

The demand of the grand old party came a day after 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel since November 12 were successfully evacuated by the rescue personnel.

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Referring to the tunnel collapse in the Himalayan state, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, “While we salute the rescued workers and applaud the entire rescue team—especially the twelve ‘rat-hole’ miners who displayed both skill and daring, and who surely deserve a more appropriate name for the work they do—we should also reflect on some larger questions thrown up by the tunnel collapse.”

Ramesh, who is also the Congress’ MP in the Rajya Sabha, claimed that the fragility and complexity of the Western Himalayan ecosystem has been brought home to us in a stark manner following the incident.

The parliamentarian noted that what has also been revealed is the “failure” of the environmental appraisal process when it comes to planning, designing and executing civil construction, and other projects in this region.

“In the Char Dham project for instance, of which the collapsed tunnel was a part, construction works were awarded in a way so as to escape environmental impact assessment altogether. Reports have come on the absence of widely accepted safety features on the tunnel,” he wrote on X.

Ramesh demanded that a thorough audit of all projects under implementation should be carried out, and all future projects in the Himalayan region must be put on hold and have them subject to professional ecological scrutiny.

In a veiled attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, the MP said, “The entry to the office of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change that was inaugurated over a decade back has these words: Prakruti Rakshati Rakshata. This is a simple yet powerful maxim embedded in our civilisational heritage. Sadly only lip service is being paid to this maxim with disastrous consequences for ourselves.”

Notably, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded to conduct safety audit of all under construction projects so that such situation does not arise again.