Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) : Rescue operations have been stepped up to bring trapped workers to safety from the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand at the Silkyara site. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed a C-17 transport aircraft to airlift critical equipment from Indore to Dehradun, the Uttarakhand state capital. Also, a five-member team from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) arrived at the spot to monitor and coordinate rescue operations.
In a post on X, the IAF said, "The IAF has continued with its operations to assist the ongoing tunnel rescue underway at Dharasu, Uttarakhand. An IAF C-17 has been deployed to airlift almost 22 Tonnes of critical equipment from Indore to Dehradun." The IAF swung into action to airlift critical equipment quickly following the halting of rescue operations due to failure of some machinery that was used at the site till yesterday.
It has been over seven days since the tunnel collapsed trapping about 40 workers. It has now come to light that another worker, Deepak Kumar, resident of Muzaffarpur in Gijas Tola is among the trapped taking the figure of those trapped to 41.
As of now, heavy machinery has been used to drill through up to 24 metres of debris in the collapsed tunnel till yesterday. Officials expressed the hope that they were inching closer to creating an escape passage for the trapped workers to come out safely.
The tunnel rescue team is racing against time to still drill the escape passage to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes one after the other. In this time-critical mission, the IAF has also stepped in with its swift action to make critical equipment available at the rescue site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly taking updates regarding the rescue operation. The five-member PMO team comprises Mangesh Ghildiyal, Deputy Secretary, Varun Adhikari, Geologist Engineer, Mahmood Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, Bhaskar Khulve, OSD, Tourism and Armando Caplan, Export Engineer. Also, a few experts from Australian consultancy company and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited have arrived at the spot.
The third heavy auger drilling machine has arrived from Indore. Two such machines are already undertaking rescue operations but experts apprehended that the vibrations caused during drilling may increase the risk of debris collapse.
On Friday evening, NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalkho had said that 22 metres of drilling work has been done with the American heavy auger machine. The drilling work had to be stopped as the machine had developed some fault.
Meanwhile, a temple has been built at the main entrance of the tunnel to pray for the safety of the trapped workers. Priests are performing puja in this temple regularly.
During the day, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting with officers in Dehradun to review the rescue operation work.
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The tunnel was being constructed as part of the Char Dham All Weather Road Project, and was located on the Yamunotri National Highway. The total length of the tunnel is 4.531 km.
The accident occurred at a distance of about 205 metres from the entrance, which is the beginning of the tunnel from the Silkyara side. There is a landslide-affected area of up to 60 metres from here where debris has fallen. After this, there is a stretch of about two km where workers are stranded after which, a further 80-metre tunnel has been built and 591 metre further construction work is left, which is still closed. The construction work of the 1600-metre portion from Yamunotri side, which is from the other side of the tunnel, has been completed.
Plaster was done up to 205 metres from the starting point of the tunnel. Beyond that, there was no plaster due to which this accident happened.
Oxygen is being supplied to the workers trapped inside through 200 mm pipes. Water pipelines are being used to send food and water. Gram, almonds, ORS, glucose and medicines are being transported through the pipelines.
