Uttarakhand tunnel collapse Day 6: Rescue teams drill 21 metres through rubble for trapped miners' rescue

The rescue team is racing against time to still drill up to 60 metres to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes one after the other -- with the help of a giant drill machine to find an escape passage for the miners trapped in the under-construction tunnel, Anshu Manish Khalkho, NHIDCL Director, said.

Uttarkashi:Working overnight with a powerful machine, rescue workers drilled 21 metres through the rubble in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel, inching closer to the 40 labourers trapped there for five days.

Expert rescue teams from Thailand and Norway with proven track record of some daring rescue bids including the one that successfully rescued the trapped children from a cave in Thailand in 2018, have roped in to assist in the ongoing rescue operation.

The workers still need to drill up to 60 metres to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes one after the other -- with the help of a giant drill machine till an escape passage is created for the labourers stuck behind the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel, NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalkho said.

The labourers have been trapped since Sunday morning when a part of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide. "Drilling has been done up to 21 metres so far," the state emergency operation centre's control room in Silkyara said.

The stretch where debris is accumulated begins 270 metres from the mouth of the tunnel at Silkyara side. Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said that the trapped workers are safe and being supplied with oxygen, medicines, and food and water through pipes.

Constant communication is being maintained with them to keep up their morale, he said. Rescue teams are racing against time to evacuate 40 construction workers whose prolonged confinement within the tunnel is raising serious concerns about their health and well-being.

Rescuers have penetrated up to 30 metres into the debris and have placed five pipes to supply food and oxygen to the trapped workers amdi calls from doctors for comprehensive rehabilitation for the trapped workers, fearing that the prolonged confinement may necessitate both mental and physical recovery processes.