Uttarkashi: On Thursday, the fifth day of rescue efforts to free the forty laborers stranded in an unfinished tunnel in Silkyara, Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, began as an Auger drill machine started up. This was done to speed up the process of sifting through the rubble and freeing the workers.
The Indian Air Force’s Hercules cargo plane flew this huge drilling machine from Delhi to Uttarakhand.
The 25-ton heavy Auger machine can drill five to six meters per hour, according to Anshu Manish Khalkho, Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL).
If this drilling machine works well then all the 40 workers trapped in the tunnel can be rescued in the next 10 to 15 hours. However, the working of this machine will also depend on how far the workers are trapped inside the tunnel.
After the installation of the Jack and Push Earth Auger machine sent from Delhi, it has started drilling and pipe pushing. At present, the entire process is going on satisfactorily. In case there is no glitch in the rescue operation, it is expected that the trapped workers will be rescued by late Thursday evening or Friday.
In the meantime, Union Minister V.K. Singh visited the tunnel on Thursday to assess the situation regarding the rescue efforts. He talked with the rescue personnel and attempted to determine the cause of the tunnel tragedy.
According to the Minister, all 40 workers are stranded in a 2-kilometer area of darkness inside the tunnel; food and water are being sent to them by the authorities.
Compared to the previous one, this new drilling machine is working faster and with greater power.
On the fifth day of the tunnel collapse, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar also reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Later, he told the media that all the Central and the state agencies are trying their best to rescue the trapped workers.
He added that all the people trapped in the tunnel are completely safe.
“We all have to maintain their (trapped workers’) morale by playing a positive role. Now the Army and Air Force have also been involved in the rescue operation,” he stated.
The PMO, which had been keeping a close eye on the matter, acted on Tuesday night when the state government’s attempts proved to be ineffective. Following this, the IAF’s Hercules cargo plane carrying the 25-ton Jack and Push Earth Auger machine was flown to Uttarkashi in two sections by the Central government.
After both aircraft containing the machines touched down at the Chinyalisaur airfield, the government established a ‘Green Corridor’ on the Chinyalisaur to Silkyara highway in order to expedite the transportation of the machine parts.
In order to save the workers, professional organizations from Norway and Thailand have also been consulted. The Thai organizations that had saved kids from a tunnel the previous year were asked for assistance.
At present, an Army team led by Colonel Deepak Patil is also involved in the relief and rescue operations.
Apart from these, a team of 200 people is working round the clock. Soldiers and personnel of various state agencies, including the NDRF, SDRF, local police, fire service, ITBP, BRO, Rail Vikas Nigam have also been deployed in the operation.
SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra is at the spot for the fifth day along with local administration and police officials.
Engineer and drilling expert Aadesh Jain said late on Wednesday night that till November 14, debris had caved in six times and its radius had increased to 70 metres.
The drilling machine that was installed earlier could work only up to 45 metres.
According to NDRF Assistant Commander Karamveer Singh, the 4.5-km long and 14-metre wide tunnel was plastered up to 200 metres from the starting point.
