Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Drilling Machine Develops Snag, Air Force To Transport Heavier Equipment
It has been four days since the forty workers have been trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in Uttrakhand's Uttarkashi, and the efforts to rescue them have hit an unexpected roadblock.
On Tuesday night, rubble from the landslide fell on the collapsed part of the tunnel, hampering operations as well as injuring two rescue workers.
How the rescue operation got delayed?
The landslide hampered efforts to insert steel pipes through the tunnel's debris to create the passage.?
The augur machine used for drilling a 3-feet hole through the debris to reach the workers also developed a snag, further delaying the rescue operation.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar said that relief and rescue work was proceeding on war footing, and drilling work is being done with the auger drilling machine.
"Due to natural obstacles, the speed of drilling is slow," DGP Kumar said.
Why Air Force has been called in
Following this, authorities have called in the Indian Air Force to airlift a heavier drilling machine from Delhi for the rescue operation.
"We have airlifted a latest machine from Delhi; the Indian Air Force is helping us. In the next few hours, we will be able to install the machine and rescue work will resume," Anshu Manish Khalko, Director, of NHIDCL (National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited), said.
How the trapped workers are doing
According to officials, the 40 trapped workers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes.
But as the rescue operation entered its fourth day on Wednesday, families and friends of the trapped workers are getting desperate.
On Wednesday, some workers protested outside the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel over the delay in the rescue operations.
40 construction workers, including 15 from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five from Odisha, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam, and one from Himachal Pradesh, have been trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel, located on the Yamunotri National Highway since Sunday morning.
On Tuesday, authorities had expressed confidence that the drilling and installation of the pipe, which would act as an escape route for the trapped men, would be completed by Tuesday, and the rescue would be completed by Wednesday.
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