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       India Ignored Repeated Warnings Before Tunnel Trapped 41 Men

       Environmentalists argued that a road project was destabilizing the fragile Himalayan landscape. The government maneuvered to continue it.

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       The entrance to the tunnel in Uttarakhand, India, where workers were rescued after being trapped by a collapse for 17 days. Credit...Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Mujib Mashal and Suhasini Raj

       Reporting from New Delhi and Jaipur, India

       Nov. 29, 2023

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       As the trapped workers came out of the under-construction road tunnel after 17 days, the happy end to a rescue effort that had riveted India set off celebrations across the country.

       Gone for the moment were questions about why the 41 men had been put at risk of being entombed in the tunnel in the first place. Instead, television crews outdid one another in excitement and volume, showering praise on the officials involved in the rescue, who lined up on Tuesday with garlands for the workers. Cameras focused on local representatives of India’s governing party, who credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

       “Modi makes it possible!” they chanted in Hindi.

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       Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. More about Mujib Mashal

       Suhasini Raj has worked for over a decade as an investigative journalist with Indian and international news outlets. Based in the New Delhi bureau, she joined The Times in 2014. More about Suhasini Raj

       A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 30, 2023, Section A , Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: India Exults, But Warnings On Tunnel Were Legion . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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