The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) said that the demolition on Wednesday was part of a larger effort to clear illegal encroachments in the Khajuri Khas area of northeast Delhi. Vakeel Hasan, a rat-hole miner who was instrumental in the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation last year, owned one of the houses that was destroyed in the DDA’s recent demolition drive.

“I am Vakeel Hasan. The reward we got for saving 41 from Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel was that our house had been demolished. I need help. They have caught me and my children and are keeping us in a police station. They have also beaten some of us,” Hasan said, expressing his dismay at not having received any prior notice.

Hasan’s words were echoed by Munna Qureshi, another miner participating in the rescue effort: “The government had promised us that they would give us the privilege of sitting at home, but they have seized our team member’s home.”

In response, the DDA disputed these allegations, stating that all residents had received prior notice and that the property was set aside for planned development.

The operation to save the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel became well-known for using rat-hole mining, which is prohibited for safety reasons. Vakeel Khan and Munna Qureshi were among the miners who intervened when imported, high-tech machinery failed during the operation in November 2023.

Rat-hole miner Mr. Khan, who works for an engineering services company in Delhi, gave a detailed account of the successful rescue: “They hugged me, cheered in applause, and thanked me lavishly,” he stated following the successful extraction of the stranded miners, who had been in the tunnel for 17 days.