The 41 workers have been trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi for
264 hours and multiple teams are engaged in rescue operations. Officials
supervising the rescue operation believe they are close to making a critical
breakthrough.
Road and Transport Technical Additional Secretary Mahmood Ahmed said some
big news is expected in the next 24 hours as an additional 880-millimeter pipe
has been pushed 21 metres through the rubble to free the trapped workers.
The official said since Tuesday night they have pushed three more pipes,
reaching 40-50 metres through horizontal drilling inside the tunnel.
At a press conference with the former advisor to the Prime Minister’s
Office Bhaskar Khulbe held at the mouth of the tunnel, Ahmad said, “An
additional 800 mm pipe has also been pushed 21 metres inside the tunnel”.
The official said around 12:45 am, “They started drilling through the
auger machine” and so far, “we have pushed through three more pipes…”
“As long as we reach 45-50 metres inside the tunnel, we will not be able
to give you the exact time. We are also doing horizontal drilling, we have
entered around 8 metres from there as well…,” he said.
He added, “If there are no obstacles, some big news may be received
tonight or tomorrow morning. An iron rod has also come along with the debris.
It is a matter of happiness that this iron in the middle of laying the pipeline
did not create any problems for us…”
A total of five agencies – ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL and THDCL — have
been assigned specific responsibilities to evacuate the 41 labourers trapped
for 10 days in the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction structure
following a landslide.
The collapse occurred during the construction of a tunnel from Silkyara
to Barkot, trapping 41 labourers due to a muck fall in a 60-metre stretch on
the Silkyara side of the tunnel on November 12.
On Tuesday morning, rescuers managed to insert an endoscopy camera into
the tunnel and the first visuals captured showed the 41 workers had ample space
inside the tunnel for them to move about.
Visuals of workers trapped inside for the past 10 days emerged on Tuesday
morning, has given new hope to worried relatives, some of whom are camping
outside the site of the collapsed tunnel structure.
ANI
