Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: First Visuals of Trapped Workers Out, CM Says ‘Will Probe Matter’ | Updates – News18

Top NDMA experts on Tuesday briefed the country about the rescue operation underway at the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse site adding that all the 41 workers trapped inside are in good shape and are getting sufficient oxygen, water and food.

The rescue team also received the first visuals of trapped workers captured using an endoscopic camera sent in through a 6-inch pipeline, which was pushed Monday through the rubble of the collapsed portion of the tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route.

Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: Key Updates from Today’s Rescue Ops

• Additional Secretary Technical, Road and Transport Mahmood Ahmed said the NHIDCL has ensured the facility of oxygen supply, food, water or medicine for all the 41 trapped workers.
• Special-grade pipes were airlifted by the Indian Air Force to augment the rescue operation at the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse site.
• The rescue team informed that the BRO made tracks and raw roads to ferry the heavy equipment and it might take a day or two to reach all the machinery.
• ITBP, Fire services, BRO, Indian Army and various Technical agencies are helping in rescue operations on the site of the tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi, said a top NDMA expert.
• The first visuals of the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel emerged. In a video, the workers are seen receiving food items sent to them through the pipeline and talking to each other.
• Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain said that horizontal boring from the Silkyara is underway and if everything goes smoothly, it could take two to three days at least to get all the workers out.
• Jain said that the fabrication of a protective canopy for the drilling machine is underway.
• Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, while commenting on whether an investigation will be launched into the Uttarkashi tunnel incident, said “Actions will be definitely taken against all suspicions but right now the priority is for all workers to come out safely.”
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday, the second day in a row, to enquire about the progress of the rescue effort.

Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving the workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris.

The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government.