The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday said work is underway to remove the broken parts of the auger machine and start digging by hand in the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi, while efforts are underway to rescue 41 workers trapped in the tunnel for the last 14 days. Vertical drilling has also started. Speaking to the media, NDMA member Lieutenant General (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said that all efforts are on to rescue the workers trapped in the tunnel.
Hasnain said that the work of vertical drilling, considered the second best option, started around noon and drilling of 15 meters has been completed. He told that after vertical drilling of 86 meters, the upper layer of the tunnel will have to be broken to take out the trapped workers.
The NDMA member said that six plans are being implemented to save the workers, but the best option so far is horizontal drilling, under which 47 meters of drilling has been completed.
He said, “Six schemes are being implemented. The operation has not been stopped and it is continuing under repair work. Hasnain said machines doing ‘sideway drilling’ (vertical drilling) were expected to reach the rescue site during the night. He said that during horizontal drilling, the work of taking out the broken parts of the auger machine from the tunnel is going on. The NDMA member said that Magna and plasma cutter machines are being used for this purpose.
Hasnain said that the broken part of the auger machine stuck in the 47 meter long section has been removed up to 34 meters and about 13 meters is still left. We hope that it will be taken out by tonight.
A plasma cutter was sent from Hyderabad on Sunday to cut and remove parts of the auger machine stuck in the debris inside the Silkyara tunnel. He said that once the broken parts are removed, 15 meters of excavation will be done by hand to reach the trapped workers, although this may take time.
The NDMA member said that earlier we were able to drill at a speed of 4-5 meters per hour, but now this cannot happen. However, it is a safe and successful technique. He said that all concerned agencies are working to make the rescue operation successful.
It was necessary for officials to completely remove the machine to resume rescue operations, which involved pushing pipes by hand through the debris to pave the way for workers to be evacuated.
A part of the drill machine for vertical drill has also been sent to the hill above the tunnel. A unit of the Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers, reached the rescue site on Sunday to assist in the rescue operations. The blades of an auger machine drilling into the debris of the Silakyara Tunnel to pave the way for the trapped workers got stuck in the debris on Friday night, forcing officials to consider other options, leading to a rescue operation. It may take several days or even weeks.
On the 14th day of the multi-agency rescue operation, officials are focused on two options – hand ‘drilling’ into the remaining 10 or 12 meters of debris or drilling down 86 meters from the top. It is noteworthy that a part of the tunnel being built on the Chardham Yatra route had collapsed on November 12, due to which 41 workers working in it were trapped. Since then, various agencies are carrying out rescue operations on a war footing to get them out.