Uttarakhand tunnel collapse top developments: All 41 workers safe, drilling ops to continue Sunday

Visuals from Uttarakhand tunnel rescue ops: 

In Pics | Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: Drilling to restart from Sunday

CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urges that the developmental activities must be mindful of the Himalayan ecosystem.  

He also called on the prime minister to ensure social security for workers from marginalised backgrounds involved in these developmental activities.
 

"The good news is that the 41 workers are all safe. They are speaking to their relatives, the logistics are in place, the six-inch and four-inch pipes are all intact, the power line is intact, water is going inside...Vertical drilling will perhaps start in about 48 hours. I cannot lay a timeline fully yet, but hopefully, it should start in that time frame, provided all the machinery is in place," the MDMA said.

A landline facility is being set up by BSNL at the tunnel to enable stranded workers to talk to their family members.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami held a high-level meeting with all the agencies and officials of the state administration engaged in the ongoing rescue operation to rescue the workers trapped in the tunnel under construction in Silkyara, Uttarkashi.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), CM said during the meeting that getting works out safely was the top priority. 

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Saturday a digging of 47-metres had been done, adding the rescue operation would go longer than expected.

"Currently, the situation is that the 47-meter digging has been done, we have to keep it stable and remove the broken part of the Auger machine...I feel in the next 1-2 days the drilling will again start. This operation may go longer and we need to boost the morale of the labourers and the family members...: NDMA member Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.) said.

Chief Minister Dhami also told reporters that authorities were working on all options to reach the stranded workers and get them out. 

"Everyone knows that this rescue operation is being done under difficult & challenging circumstances. The machine got stuck after reaching so close...We are expecting that by tomorrow morning this machine will come out & after that, the operation will move forward manually...We are working on all the options. The plasma cutter machine has been ordered from Hyderabad to cut the auger machine..." Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami told reporters on Saturday. 

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrives in Uttarkashi to take stock of the rescue operation under way at the Silkyara tunnel.

International Tunneling Expert Arnold Dix said augering will no longer be used in the rescue operation.

"There are multiple ways. It's not just one way... At the moment, everything is fine... You will not see the Augering anymore. Auger is finished. The auger (machine) has broken. It's irreparable. It is disrupted. No more work from auger. No more drilling from auger. There will not be a new auger...", he said.

Rescue officials are ensuring no gap is left in the operation as a 10-bed hospital, 40 ambulances, 20 doctors, and 35-40 support staff have been stationed outside the tunnel and a 41-bed hospital has been set up at Chinyalisaur, about 50km from the tunnel site.

Uttarakhand CM PS Dhami released a statement on Saturday saying PM Modi was taking stock of the situation every day.

"The Prime Minister is taking detailed information every day about the well-being of the workers and the ongoing relief and rescue operations in Silkyara tunnel. Central agencies, state administration and teams of international experts are working together and soon we will be successful in safely evacuating our brothers," he said.

As per sources, rescue operation will still take more time as machines for vertical drilling are yet to be transported to the tunnel site.

"During drilling, another obstruction came in the way of the auger machine due to which the blade of the auger got stuck and efforts are being made to remove it," sources told.

"Yesterday, during drilling, the pipe was found to be inserted further 2.2 meters... that is, the pipe had gone inside till about 49 meters but after that there was a blockage."

"Meanwhile, the machine brought from Gujarat for vertical drilling is being transported over the tunnel."

"Rescue operation will take more time."

India's Border Roads Organisation (BRO) team personnel have been reportedly instructed to transport machines to enable vertical drilling on the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi through the road they recently built to access the top of the hill, officials said on Saturday.

"Soon, a joint meeting of all the departments concerned will be held and decision will be taken on when work on the vertical drilling will commence," an official was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

Authorities are now exploring the option of vertical drilling of the tunnel. A vertical tunnel machine was seen at Silkyara tunnel where the efforts to reach the trapped workers are ongoing.

#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Vertical drilling machine at the Silkyara tunnel as the operation to rescue 41 workers trapped here continues. pic.twitter.com/NeKM5jznOD

— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2023

The rescue operation is yet to resume. While authorities have expressed optimism on when it will conclude, there is 'no timeline yet' on the purported conclusion of the mission.

A senior official who is part of the rescue operation said that manual drilling work could begin in the last 6-9 meters to reach the trapped workers. 

"As soon as after the auger drilling machine is brought out of the tunnel pipeline, manual drilling work could be started in the last 6-9 meters," a senior official who is part of the rescue operation was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The official however did not give the exact time frame for the completion of rescue operation. 

The breathless wait for 41 workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, over 400 km north of Indian capital New Delhi, continues for the 13th day in a row. On Friday (Nov 24), the work of laying pipes through to debris could not be resumed due to repair work over a platform on which the drilling machine rests. 

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Uttarakhand tunnel rescue is like the 'finest heart surgery' in Himalayas, says expert Arnold Dix

"We were called because something got stuck in the auger machine. GPR helps us know how far away the metallic object is. GPR basically scans; therefore, two people are needed, one to run the GPR and the other to acquire the data. Two members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were sent with me inside the tunnel for safety reasons. After acquiring the data with GPR technology, we came to the conclusion that there were no heavy objects up to 5 metres in the rescue tunnel," geophysicist Chendoor told ANI.

Cyriac Joseph, MD and CEO of Squadrone Infra Mining Pvt Ltd spoke about the drone technology being used in the rescue operation.

"This is a new technology, it goes into GPS-denied areas and is used in underground tunnels and underground mines. It has been introduced in India recently. Our target is to determine how we can rescue the 41 trapped workers and how quickly we can do it. The safety of the rescue team is also important," Joseph Cyriac Joseph, MD and
CEO of Squadrone Infra Mining Pvt Ltd said.