Dehradun: As rescue operations to save 40 workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi entered the third day on Tuesday, rescuers at the under-construction tunnel collapse site mounted the rescue effort by inserting large-diameter mild steel pipes through the rubble using an auger machine to rescue the 40 workers trapped for two days now, officials said.
During the relief and rescue operation, debris fell again inside the tunnel, due to which two workers narrowly escaped. However, both of them suffered injuries while running to escape the debris and they were provided first aid in the temporary hospital built near the tunnel. Injured workers say that due to the huge crowd inside the narrow tunnel, they are facing difficulties in working. Before taking out the 40 labourers trapped in the tunnel, the technical team laid a trail and inserted thick iron pipes through the auger machine so that all the labourers trapped in the tunnel could be taken out safely.
According to the district administration, if Plan B is successful, it would take 40 to 50 hours to rescue the workers still trapped in the tunnel. It is a matter of relief that at present all the 40 labourers trapped in the tunnel for three days are safe. In fact, on Tuesday at around quarter to five, the work of installing the auger machine for drilling in the Silkyara Tunnel was in the final stages. Ten labourers were engaged. Meanwhile, suddenly a huge debris fell. To avoid this the workers ran outside. Yusuf Ali and Sahidu Rama suffered injuries in the stampede. Both of them were immediately taken to the temporary hospital set up near the tunnel. Where both were provided first aid.
It is being said that only 10 to 15 people are working in the tunnel. Which includes labourers and technical staff. However, people from other departments present there as spectators are creating hindrances in the work by staying in the narrow path of the tunnel. This is the reason why when debris fell there on Monday evening, an atmosphere of stampede was created.
The pipes are being pushed in using the horizontal drilling equipment to create an escape passage for the workers, who are safe and are being provided with oxygen, water and light food items such as dry fruits, they said. Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said authorities have set a target of rescuing the trapped labourers by Tuesday night or Wednesday. The officials said a part of the tunnel being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway caved in on Sunday morning following a landslide.
They said that the mild steel (MS) pipes and the auger machine arrived at the spot in the early hours of Tuesday. A platform is being prepared for the auger drilling machine, the officials said, adding that the MS pipes have a diameter of 900 mm. Contact is being maintained with the trapped labourers and the assurance that a huge rescue operation is being carried out by various agencies to evacuate them has also boosted their morale, NHIDCL Executive Director Col (retd) Sandip Sudehra said.
The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is the agency engaged in building the tunnel. Uttarkashi's Chief Medical Officer RCS Panwar said a six-bed temporary hospital has been set up near the tunnel and 10 ambulances with medical teams stationed to provide immediate medical care to the trapped workers after their evacuation.
According to a list of the trapped workers issued by the District Emergency Operation Centre, 15 are from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five from Orissa, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam and one from Himachal Pradesh. Earlier, a portion of the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed on Sunday morning following a landslide. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham all-weather road project. Most of the trapped workers are from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has constituted a six-member Expert Committee to investigate the incident. The panel is set up under the chairmanship of the Director, Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Centre. Meanwhile, a three-member team of Jharkhand government officials has been rushed to Uttarakhand to provide help in the rescue operation. The team comprising JAP-IT (Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology) CEO Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh, and joint labour commissioners Rajesh Prasad and Robert Lakra, left for the hill state on Monday on the direction of Chief Minister Hemant Soren to provide immediate relief and help in the rescue of workers hailing from the eastern state, an official statement said.
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