U’khand tunnel collapse: Workers trapped for 120 hrs as rescuers battle against time
A portion of the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Dandalgaon on the Yamunotri National Highway (NH) collapsed at around 5:30am on Sunday, leaving workers trapped inside
Rescue operations entered the sixth day on Friday as authorities continue to battle against time to evacuate the 40 construction workers trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi for over 120 hours.
As of 6:30am on Friday, the powerful drilling machine brought from Delhi has been able to drill through 21 metres of debris.
The machine was pressed into service on Thursday at around 10:30am after the previous machine rendered useless and got damaged after a boulder came its way.
Meanwhile, the length of the section of the tunnel where debris had collapsed has increased from 50-55m initially, to 65-70m after repeated cave-ins, said a railway official, on the condition of anonymity, who is involved in the rescue operation.
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Devendra Patwal, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO), said, “The new drilling machine has been able to drill through 21 metres of debris until 6:30am. It is good progress”, he said.
In the first four days of operations, two rescue attempts to cut through the wall of rock blocking the tunnel had failed.
In the first attempt, rescue workers had tried to dig through the rubble using heavy excavator machines and sought to prevent more debris from falling using the “shotcrete method” (a construction technique that involves spraying concrete onto surfaces using air).
However, loose rock and sand kept collapsing, rendering the strategy unsuccessful.
In the second attempt, they tried to create a safe passage using an auger machine and fitting in large pipes inside which workers can crawl out.
This plan failed as the drilling machine being used was rendered useless as it got damaged after the drill hit a boulder on Tuesday night.
Thereafter, a more powerful machine was flown in IAF aircrafts from New Delhi.
While the previous 35HP (horsepower) auger machine had a capacity to penetrate at the rate of 1m per hour, the new 175-200HP machine can cut through rock at 5m per hour, officials said.
A portion of the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Dandalgaon on the Yamunotri National Highway (NH) collapsed at around 5:30am on Sunday, leaving workers trapped inside.
Most of these workers are from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal, district administration officials said.