After 11 days of arduous effort and drilling up to 46.8 metres into the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, officials believe the rescue operation to evacuate 41 workers across the rubble of the collapsed structure by today. However, officials said the entire operation is like a ‘war’ and giving a timeline to this drive would not be appropriate as it would only exert pressure on the workforce that is already functioning round the clock under adverse conditions.
“Many experts are giving opinions that they might be rescued today evening, tomorrow morning but remember these operations are like a war. These operations should not be given a timeline. In wars, we don’t know how the enemy will react. Here Himalayan geology is our enemy. From which angles the tunnel has collapsed we don’t know,” Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain, member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said at a press conference.
He pointed out that catering to the safety of trapped men as well as rescuers is important and it would be wrong to circumscribe the operation within a timeline. “This is challenging work. To keep expecting that rescue will be done in the next two hours puts pressure on the workforce. This is wrong,” he added.
