Dehradun: Rescuers, who are up against the daunting task of evacuating 40 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Silkyara in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, installed an auger drill machine to speed up the process of digging through the debris.
As the search for the trapped miners intensified on the fifth day on Thursday, experts were called in to monitor the mental health of the miners whose situation is continuously being assessed through constant communication.
Officials said they sought advice from Norwegian and Thai experts considering the fragile state of the mountains where the tunnel is located. Still, 50 metres of debris needs to be penetrated to insert 800 mm of evacuation tubes.
Authorities on Wednesday brought three consignments of the new auger drill machine that were flown from Delhi by Hercules aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The auger machine, having a penetration rate of the new machine is 4-5 metres per hour, was brought from Delhi. The auger machine, brought in three batches by Hercules aircraft of the Air Force, landed at Chinyalisaur airport.
The first Hercules aircraft of the Air Force, carrying parts of the new machine from Hindon Airbase in New Delhi, landed at Chinyalisaur airstrip at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Thereafter parts were transported by truck to the Silkyara Tunnel at around 4.45 p.m.
