Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Heavy-duty drilling machine begins creating escape passage

In the latest attempt to create an escape passage for workers trapped inside a collapsed under-construction tunnel in India's Uttarakhand, a heavy-duty drilling machine, which was flown in by the Indian Air Force from Delhi, got into action and started boring through the rubble on Thursday (Nov 16).

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh had arrived at the site to take stock of the rescue operation when the drilling by the new machine began.

He said that the government and all its agencies were making efforts to complete the operation within two to three days and rescue all the 40 workers trapped inside.

"Government, all its agencies and experts with whom we can communicate--the efforts of all of us are aimed at rescuing the workers at the earliest. I have spoken with them and their morale is high. They understand that all efforts are being made for them and we are weighing all options to rescue them," Singh told reporters in Uttarkashi.

He said the labourers were confined in a small space of about two kilometres in the debris and they were sending in food water and oxygen via a pipe to the trapped workers.

"Our priority is to rescue them sooner. Efforts are being made for this. All the agencies are putting effort into this. A new machine is working, whose power and speed are better than the old machine. Our effort is to complete this rescue operation within two to three days. We are also taking the help of international experts. They know that the government is working to rescue them," the minister said.

PM Modi reviewing rescue operation

Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reviewing the rescue operation.

"We are in regular contact with the trapped. All the arrangements for them are being made there. Everyone is safe. Work was done by the NHIDCL and the tunnel was on the verge of completion. Just 400 metres were left... Now we will review it all... PM Modi is reviewing the rescue operation and is continuously in contact with all of us," Dhami told news agency ANI.

Colonel Deepak Patil, the one helming the rescue efforts, said that the "Union Minister was here and he talked to the labourers. He assured them, and those labourers responded and they liked it."

He then said the drilling work had resumed and that the rescue operations were moving at a very fast pace.

"The machine has drilled around 3 metres in half an hour but we cannot give you an exact time as speed could further increase or decrease."

Colonel Patil said that they have considered a third option for which "equipment and machinery are already on wheels."

Further elucidating on the drilling process, Patil said that they were deploying the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), which combines a drill and blast technique.

"The primary thought process behind this method is to monitor the deformations as you go in. More deformations, more caution, use more rock bolts and use more primary support," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)