Plasma cutter brought from Hyderabad to cut the auger machine
Uttarkashi (ANI): The plasma cutter machine flown from Hyderabad to cut the auger machine stuck in the debris of Silkyara tunnel to rescue 41 workers started working on Sunday morning.
The plasma cutter machine was brought to Silkyara Tunnel early in the morning.
The process of removing the auger machine was underway even before the new machine reached the site.
National Disaster Management Authority member Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) on Saturday said there has been no movement in the last 24 hours in the drilling work being done to rescue 41 workers trapped in the Uttarkashi tunnel for 13 days.
The NDMA member said a part of the American-auger machine was broken, blocking a possible escape route.
“The current update is that (in the last 24 hours, there has been no movement within this bore tunnel which was being built for rescue. Because… there has been an accident in the auger machine itself. A) a part of it (actually ) is broken, and that broken part has to be taken out (from the escape pipe),” Hasnain told ANI.
Meanwhile, a safety canopy is being laid inside the Silkyara tunnel to protect the rescue team, where 41 workers have been trapped for two weeks, official sources said.
Further, as part of efforts to provide assurance to the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel and to relieve their stress, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has taken steps to provide them a landline through which they can talk to their families. Can.
Kundan, a BSNL official, said they are in the process of sending a small landline phone through the pipe to the stranded workers.
He said, “Through this they will be able to talk directly to their families.”
He said BSNL has set up a small telephone exchange at the tunnel site and phones will be connected through a line. A senior official involved in the rescue operation said that some mobile phones have also been sent to the stranded workers so that they can play games.
“There is no mobile network nearby, but we are also looking at providing Wi-Fi connectivity. We are also considering providing cricket bats and balls to the workers so that they can play cricket. You can spend your time playing because there is a lot of space inside the tunnel where the workers are trapped, so that cricket can be played easily,” the official said.
On November 12, after a portion of the tunnel caved in, 41 workers were trapped inside the under-construction structure after debris fell over a 60-metre section on the Silkyara side of the tunnel. (ANI)
