Uttarkashi Rescue LIVE: Rescuers make 8-meter progress

Rescuers make 8-meter progress, Nov 26, 2023, 14:45 IST

As vertical drilling continues to enhance the rescue efforts for the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, rescuers have successfully advanced a distance of 8 meters into the ground over the last hour and a half.

Official sources report that drilling has progressed by up to 8 meters in the last one and a half hours. Presently, the focus is on laying a 900-mm pipeline as part of the ongoing efforts.

Vertical drilling commences, Nov 26, 2023, 13:23 IST
Vertical drilling commenced as one of the various planned solutions to rescue the 41 workers who have been trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since November 12.

Two sites were designated for vertical drilling, both located on the Silkyara side of the high-altitude tunnel under construction, which experienced a partial collapse on November 12. SJVN, a public sector undertaking specializing in hydroelectric power generation and transmission, initiated vertical drilling atop the hill, marking the 15th day of ongoing rescue operations. Another area on top of the tunnel, with access to electricity and water, has also begun vertical drilling as an alternative rescue space. Various agencies, including the Indian Air Force, are collaborating on the rescue efforts, with the recent addition of critical DRDO equipment flown into Dehradun.

On Tuesday, rescue teams successfully introduced an endoscopy camera into the tunnel. The initial images from the device revealed that the trapped workers had sufficient space to move within the tunnel. These visuals brought renewed optimism to concerned family members, some of whom were stationed outside the location of the collapsed tunnel structure.

Simultaneously, Arnold Dix, an international expert in tunneling involved in the rescue project, asserted on Sunday that there was no risk of a collapse in the area where the incident occurred, emphasizing the need for an investigation into the matter.

“It may have been an unusual situation occurring here where the class of rock changes. It has to be investigated. The area that collapsed hadn’t collapsed before; it wasn’t even given any clue that it was going to collapse before. So, it is a part of the challenge for us–what is it about the ground here, this mountain that caught us on the back foot,” he said.

He added that the auger machine, which had been hindered by debris in the Silkyara tunnel, is now making rapid progress since the introduction of plasma cutters on Sunday morning.

“The auger machine failed, and we are having a lot of technical difficulties in getting the auger out of the pipe. That’s (the process of cutting it out) going much faster this morning as plasma cutters have come,” Arnold Dix added.

Catch the latest updates on NewsX