A Touching Act of Humanity: Afcons Team Distributes Food to Stranded Travelers Inside Tunnels
AFCONS engineers distributing food items to passengers trapped in the tunnel
Mandi, August 6:
In a heartwarming display of humanity, the team from Afcons Infrastructure Limited, engaged in the construction of the Chandigarh-Manali four-lane project, came to the rescue of over 500 stranded travelers late Tuesday night. With people stuck inside tunnels for hours without food or water, the company’s engineer, Vishwa Sharma, along with his team, personally delivered relief supplies around 2:00 a.m., providing much-needed food and water to the exhausted travelers.
The situation unfolded around 7 p.m. when large boulders fell onto a fuel tanker beneath the Dawada flyover, prompting authorities to halt traffic on safety grounds. Vehicles heading from Mandi were stopped inside the Dawada and Hanogi tunnels, while those approaching from the Kullu side were held at Aut and Panarsa. More than 150 vehicles were stranded, with passengers—including families with small children—trapped in the tunnels for hours, without access to food or drinking water.
A Ray of Hope in the Dead of Night
Vishwa Sharma, engineer with Afcons Infrastructure working on the Pandoh Bypass–Takoli four-lane stretch, shared that the relief effort was initiated on the instructions of Project Manager Vinod Thakur and HR Head Gyan Chand. The team loaded a vehicle with 30 litres of Amul milk, 150 packs of biscuits, 150 packets of namkeen, 100 cream rolls, 100 packets of chips, 10 litres of fresh milk, and 100 bottles of drinking water. They then personally drove into the tunnels to distribute the supplies.
Special care was taken for young children, who were reportedly crying out of hunger and exhaustion. “As soon as we heard people were stuck in the tunnel, we couldn’t sit back. When we learned children had no milk and were crying, we knew we had to act,” Sharma said. “Everyone from foremen to labourers came forward—this was truly a collective effort by the Afcons family.”
Among those who assisted in the relief effort were foreman Karam Singh, Narendra, Sanju, Sunil, Raj Kumar, and Dhalu Ram, all of whom worked shoulder-to-shoulder through the night.
For the weary and hungry travelers, the team felt like angels in the darkness. Many expressed heartfelt gratitude with teary eyes, saying, “Today, we saw true humanity in action.”
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