Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Rescue operation halted as auger machine hits snag
Rescue efforts for the 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel entered the final stretch today. However, drilling operations had to be halted late last night after the auger machine broke down.
FollowThe rescue operations in Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand came to a halt once again after the drilling machine encountered some difficulties on Thursday night. The machine, so far, has drilled till the 46.8 metre point and is now at a pause while being just a few metres away from reaching the complete end of the 57-metre debris.
International Tunnel Expert Arnold Dix had said, “We are only just metres away from finding passage to have the men back. But the men are safe. The auger machine has broken down, it is being repaired and it should be back up soon. The drilling machine has broken down three times…”
“Since the trapped workers on the other side of the rubble are safe and fit, not rushing has enormous value because if we rush in a situation like this we might create problems we cannot imagine," he added.
In order to keep an eye on the rescue efforts, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami made the decision to spend the night in Uttarkashi on Thursday. So that there would be no obstacles in the way of his everyday job, he had set up his makeshift camp office there.
How the trapped workers will be pulled out?
The 41 workers trapped under the collapsed tunnel will be pulled out on wheeled stretchers one by one through a big pipe that is still being drilled to reach them, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General Atul Karwal told news agency PTI.
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According to Karwal, NDRF employees would enter via the pipe and use stretchers to remove each employee one at a time. Each worker will be positioned carefully on a stretcher so that their limbs do not scrape against the metal bottom of the welded pipe, and NDRF workers will expertly manoeuvre the stretcher using a rope.
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