Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue: Another Set Of Heavy Equipment Airlifted As Second Drilling Machine Gets Damaged
It has now been a week since 40 workers have been trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in?Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, and there is no end in sight for the painful wait of the loved ones.
The rescue operation was again delayed on Friday after the "high-performance" drilling machine broke down?upon reaching a depth of 22 meters.
How auger machine got damaged?
The "state-of-the-art" US-made auger machine was said to have a capacity of drilling up to four or five metres per hour. But the operation so far has progressed at the rate of less than a metre an hour since its deployment Thursday morning.
The workers are trapped beyond a 60-metre stretch of rubble, and the plan is to insert six-metre sections of steel pipes one after the other. Each pipe has a diameter of 800 or 900 mm.
This was the second drilling machine that has been damaged since the rescue operation began at the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel on Sunday.
After the first drilling machine developed a technical snag, the Indian Air Force flew the three heavier equipment in parts from Delhi on Wednesday.
On Friday, the Auger machine engaged in the drilling work stopped functioning after it hit a rock face. However, the machine reportedly started working again in the afternoon.
What is the backup plan?
Now, additional equipment has been sent to Uttarkashi as backup.
Equipment similar to the 25-tonne American-made machine now in operation was also being flown in from Indore as "backup" for the rescue operation at the under-construction Silkyara tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand.
"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. #FirstResponders #HADROps," the IAF posted on X.
It also shared images of the C-17 aircraft and a machine on-board in its post.
What progress has been made
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited authorities said the rescue teams have made significant progress.?
"We have made a significant progress and reached approximately 22 metres inside. Our goal is to reach the opposite side as quickly as possible," NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho said.
A portion of the 4531-metre Silkyara Tunnel, which is part of the Chardham All Weather Road Project, collapsed between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway on Sunday morning, trapping the workers inside.
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