Uttarkashi tunnel rescue day 14: Operations stopped once again, manual drilling being considered

Uttarkashi rescue ops: The rescue operation to save the 41 trapped workers in the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi district faced another hurdle on Friday evening forcing the drilling work to stop once more. The American-auger drilling machine hit a metal girder soon after drilling was resumed after hours of technical snag, India Today reported. The rescue team is now considering the option of manual drilling to release the trapped workers. If opted for manual drilling, it may take longer for the operation to complete.

The rescue work was put on hold for several hours owing to a technical snag late on Thursday night. The work resumed on Friday evening. But again it stopped as the auger machine was withdrawn soon after hitting the metal obstacle. 

Earlier, senior officials had said that only 10-12 metres of drilling are left. They had not confirmed any detection of significant metallic obstacles within the next five metres. 

Before the operations stopped on Friday evening, 46.8 metres of the 800-millimetre-wide steel pipe was inserted into the drilled passageway in the tunnel, which is about 60 metres long.

Earlier on Friday, Mahmood Ahmed, Additional Secretary Technical, Road and Transport, said that two more pipes of 6-metre each have to be injected into the debris to create a passage for the trapped men to be pulled out. 

He added that the first pipe would 51 to 52 metres, and with the next one, the rescue team hopes to achieve a breakthrough.

Around 41 ambulances are on standby at the tunnel's entrance, so that they can immediately take the workers away to the Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre. A designated ward has also been set up with 41 oxygen-equipped beds, prepared to provide each worker with prompt medical care.

Garhwal Range Inspector General KS Nagnyal told PTI that arrangements have been put in place to swiftly transport the rescued workers to medical centres under a secure police escort through a dedicated "green corridor". 

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an inspection of the Silkyara tunnel site in Uttarkashi on Friday. He said that the rescue operation is in its "final stage" and assured that both central and state government agencies are working together to get the 41 trapped men out.

"I pray for the speedy success of the rescue operation...," he posted on X.

The multi-agency rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed following a landslide, trapping workers inside.

(With agency inputs)
 

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