Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Rescue Op On Halt Again; ‘No Timeline Yet’ For When Workers Could Be Evacuated – News18

Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse Updates: The rescue operations to evacuate 41 workers trapped inside the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district entered the fourteenth day on Saturday. The drilling was again halted last night after the auger machine encountered another glitch. Experts on the site are analysing the debris and trying to figure out if they can push through it or if it can be cut manually.

Relief and rescue work, which entered the 13th day, is being carried out by scientists, international experts, NDRF, SDRF, and BRO on a war footing. Officials said currently there is no timeline as to when the the operation could be resumed and workers would be rescued, however, they hope to evacuate them at the earliest.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has deployed ground-penetrating radar on the evacuation site, which can scan up to five meters into the soil to determine the obstacles, and then the movement of the auger machine will be done.

Briefing the media in the national capital, Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, NDMA member, on the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation dubbed the operation as one of the most very challenging one and said that “a war is being fought to save the sons of India, who have been trapped up there in the mountain”.

He said that the government is ensuring that no resources will be left which are required and have not been mustered for this particular rescue operation.

Timeline Of Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse

• On November 12, labourers got trapped as portions of the Silkyara-Dandalgaon under-construction tunnel on the Brahmkhal-Yamunotri highway collapse following a landslide at around 5.30 am on the day of Diwali. Rescue efforts are launched by the district administration and arrangements made to supply oxygen, electricity and eatables to the trapped labourers through air-compressed pipes.
• On November 13, contact was established with the trapped workers through a pipe meant to supply oxygen to them and they are reported to be safe. Rescue efforts continued as fresh rubble kept falling from above due to which the debris accumulated in an area of around 30 metres spreads to 60 metres, further complicating the evacuation process.
• On November 14, steel pipes of 800- and 900-millimetre diameterwere brought to the tunnel site to be inserted through the rubble with the help of an auger machine for horizontal digging.However, when more rubble fell from the cavity created by the cave-in, two labourers sustain minor injuries.
• On November 15, dissatisfied with the first drilling machine, the NHIDCL asked for a state-of-the-art auger machine, whichwas airlifted from Delhi to speed up the operation.
• On November 16, the drilling machine was assembled and installed and it started working past midnight.
• On November 17, working overnight, the machine drilled about 24 metres through the 57-metre stretch rubble stretch by the afternoon and four MS pipes were inserted.The process comes to a halt when the fifth pipe hit an obstacle. Yet another high-performance auger machine was flown down from Indore to assist in the rescue efforts.In the evening, the NHIDCL, during the positioning of the fifth pipe, reported that a big cracking sound was heard in the tunnel. An expert warned about the possibility of further collapse in the vicinity and the operation was suspended immediately.
• On November 18, drilling remained halted as experts felt that the vibrations created by the diesel-driven 1,750-horsepower American auger inside the tunnel might cause more debris to collapse, posing a risk to the lives of the rescue personnel.Alternative options were explored by a team of officials from the PMO and experts who decided to work on five evacuation plans simultaneously, including vertical drilling through the top of the tunnel to rescue the trapped labourers.
• On November 19, drilling again remained suspended while Union minister Nitin Gadkari who reviewed the rescue operation said boring horizontally with the huge auger machine appeared to be the best bet.
• November 20, rescuers pushed through a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble, a breakthrough that helped them supply larger quantities of food and other essentials to trapped workers.However, the horizontal drilling that got suspended after a boulder appeared to block the progress of the heavy-duty auger machine remained suspended.
• On November 21, rescuers released the first video of the labourers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel. The workers, wearing yellow and white helmets, were seen receiving food items sent to them through the pipeline and talking to each other.Two blasts were set off at the Balkot-end of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route, beginning the process of drilling another tunnel – an alternative to the Silkyara-end option. However, this approach could take up to 40 days, experts said.The NHIDCL resumed overnight the horizontal boring operation from the Silkyara end that involved an auger machine.
• On November 22, ambulances were positioned on standby and a special ward at a local health centre was made ready. Horizontal drilling of 800 mm diameter steel pipes reached about 45 metres with only 12 metres remaining of the around 57-metre debris stretch.However, in a late evening development, the drilling hit a hurdle when some iron rods came in the way of the auger machine.
• On November 23, the iron obstruction that had caused a delay of six hours in the drilling is were removed and rescue operations were resumed. State government’s nodal officer told reporters that drilling had progressed by 1.8 metre and 48-metre point has been reached by the drill.But boring through the rubble had to be put on hold again apparently after cracks appeared in the platform on which the drilling machine ressted.
• On November 24, the 25-tonne machine was restarted and drilling was resumed. However, a fresh hurdle came in the way of boring after the drill hit a metal girder. The rescue operation is was halted again.(With inputs from agencies)