By Aaron Cordy
WHEN the Silkyara Bend–Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand, India collapsed and trapped 41 workers inside on November 12, 2023, it was little-known Australian Arnold Dix, that the chief engineer of India, called for help.
“The chief engineer of India rang me and said this is what we’ve got up in the Himalayas. What would you do?” said Arnold.
“I said this is what I reckon. And he said, ‘Hang on,’ he spun the phone around, the chief engineer of India, like 1.4 billion people he’s the boss engineer.’ Turns me to the Prime Minister’s representative and says, ‘Tell him what you just told me.’ I told him, and then the Prime Minister’s guy goes, ‘Can you come and give us a hand?”
When he was a grade 3 student in Benalla Arnold found his love for rocks. His parents owned the local pub, and an elderly man passed away, leaving a box of rocks in the closet, which fuelled Arnold’s passion for rock and tunnels.
Arnold is a geologist, engineer, barrister, farmer and truck driver, who is widely known for being a tunnelling expert. His extraordinary life has led him on a fascinating journey working on the 9/11 disaster in New York, the London Bombings, the Madrid Bombings and locally as a barrister on the Broken Creek Landcare environmental protection case in Nathalia.
He is also the president of the International Tunnelling Association, which was why he was asked to help with the Himalayan mining collapse.
“What I’m famous for is I’m good at the underground. I’ve got decades of experience in underground infrastructure. That’s my thing. And I investigate disasters.”
It should have been a disaster with all 41 trapped miners killed in the collapse, but somehow, they beat the odds and 17 days later everyone was rescued. Arnold tells the incredible story of the rescue in his book The Promise, How an Everyday Hero Made the Impossible Possible.
“I’ve told the story in this book because I think nice stories need to be told. The narratives now are just so horrible. People almost like to compare bad stories, like the world’s gone completely wrong instead of talking about good stuff, everyone’s comparing how horrible their latest information is about the latest atrocity. This isn’t one of those stories.”
While visiting friends in Nathalia last week, Arnold stopped at Collins Booksellers in Shepparton on the way back to Melbourne to sign copies of The Promise, if you want to read more about this incredible story.
