Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand): The de-watering work inside the Uttarkashi Silkyara Tunnel of Uttarakhand has been stopped after some State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, engineers and workers at the site inspected the pipes inserted through the auger machine for de-watering, sources said on Sunday.
Sources said after the inspection, protective measures were taken inside the tunnel and the de-watering work will start again only after the advice of consultants and experts.
The construction work was halted after the landslide accident in the Silkyara tunnel on the Yamunotri Highway. On January 23, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways permitted the executing agency National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to start the construction.
Officials associated with the de-watering work said that the work has been stopped and further the experts and consultant will inspect the work done so far.
The construction company entrusted the work to a Swiss and an Australian company to remove the debris inside the tunnel. The company's Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rajesh Panwar said experts from both companies will inspect the landslide debris in the tunnel and present their action plan.
A massive landslide on November 12, 2023, in the under-construction Silkyara Tunnel of Chardham All Weather Road Project blocked the tunnel opening from the Silkyara side trapping the 41 labourers. The labourers were later safely evacuated.
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