Uttarakhand's 'Hachiko' waits for his friends outside the Tapovan tunnel

Photo for representational purpose

Blackie, a two-year-old Bhutia dog, has not left his spot outside the tunnel at the Tapovan hydel project site for three days.

"We would give him food, a sack to sleep on when we worked. Blackie would be around during the day and would leave in the evening when we did," said Rajinder Kumar, who had a narrow escape on Sunday when the flooded Rishiganga blocked the tunnel, trapping 34 workers of the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydropower project inside, stated a report in The Times of India.

Blackie was born around the project site, when work on it had already begun.

"He grew up around us," added Kumar

On Sunday night when the flood hit, the dog had gone downhill. When he came back the following morning, none of the men he knew was around. "He must have realised something was amiss. The place was full of strangers who paid no attention to him," a local said.

That morning, he recalled, rescue teams tried to shoo him away. Heavy machinery was being brought in and there was chaos all around. "But he kept coming back. He just wouldn't leave," added the local

Others who live here also said they had seen him around often. "He would laze around on the road leading up to the project site," said Ajeet Kumar, a Tapovan resident. Some of those on their way to the project site would stop, pet him for a bit and he would follow them playfully. "When I heard of what had happened on Sunday, I went to the tunnel site to see if I could help. I saw Blackie. Whenever I go, he is there. But he is visibly anxious."

Unsure if areas downhill are safe right now, the locals would rather that Blackie stay up here now. "We are looking after him now. Whoever sees him around feeds him. It's like we have adopted him," one of them said.

"He sits outside the tunnel, waiting, hoping to see them again soon," he added.