Drilling in Silkyara Tunnel halted for another day, 41 stranded workers await rescue
Uttarkashi: Drilling in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel to rescue 41 workers trapped inside for 12 days resumed on Friday evening, a day after it was stopped following a snag.
Officials said in the afternoon that technical issues had been resolved and drilling was set to resume in a few hours. But till evening there was no announcement that the auger machine had started drilling the remaining portion of about 12 metres.
Neeraj Khairwal, the state’s nodal officer for the multi-agency rescue effort, said a ground penetrating radar has indicated that there is no metal obstacle up to five meters beyond the route drilled so far.
Simultaneously, sections of steel pipe were being laid in the drilled route.
Once this process is completed, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel will rescue the trapped workers one by one through this escape shoot.
Overnight, the platform of the auger machine was strengthened with quick-setting cement, officials said.
Workers went more than 45 meters inside the passage to cut off a further 1.2 meters of damaged pipe – an operation that took several hours. Part of the pipe had bent after hitting some obstacle.
A damaged portion of the auger blade was also repaired.
On Thursday, the machine had drilled 48 meters of the estimated 57 meters of debris when the operation was halted.
As rescue workers prepared to resume drilling, the steel pipe was pushed up to 46.8 metres, officials said. Only two more six-metre sections of steel pipe needed to be laid to reach the trapped workers.
In Delhi, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters that if there are no obstructions, the auger machine should be able to drill about four or five meters an hour.
It takes additional time to weld sections of steel pipe together as they are pushed into the drilled passage. The NDRF operation, which begins after the shoot is ready, is expected to take about three more hours.
Officials have warned that unexpected obstacles could arise at any time.
Earlier in the morning, former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office Bhaskar Khulbe had said that boring through the debris with augers was likely to resume by 11.30 am.
“We still have 12-14 meters more to go. And I hope that if everything goes well, we can complete the operation by Friday evening,” he predicted.
Garhwal Range IG KS Naganyal told PTI that arrangements have been made to take the rescued workers to medical centers under police escort through “green corridors”.
Road Transport and Highways Minister VK Singh, who is camping in Uttarkashi since Thursday, visited the Silkyara site to take stock of the rescue operations.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is staying in nearby Matali and visited the disaster site again on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again spoke to Dhami for an update.
NDRF organized a mock drill at the incident site. An NDRF jawan pushed a wheeled stretcher tied to a rope and went into the escape route. Then he was pulled back.
He said that there was enough space inside the pipe and he had no difficulty in breathing during the exercise.
After evacuating the workers, 41 ambulances have been deployed outside the tunnel to transport them to Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre, where a separate ward with 41 oxygen supported beds has been set up for them.
Similar arrangements have also been made in Uttarkashi District Hospital. Trauma and ICU beds have also been prepared for him in AIIMS, Rishikesh, where he can be airlifted if needed.
