Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: No Light At The End Of Tunnel Yet For 40 Trapped Workers On Day Six

The efforts to rescue the 40 workers trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, entered its sixth day on Friday.

The 40 men have been trapped more than 260 meters inside the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel since Sunday morning when a portion of it collapsed.

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What progress has been made?

The rescue teams have so far drilled up to 21 metres through the rubble in Silkyara tunnel.

"Drilling has been done up to 21 metres so far," the state emergency operation centre's control room in Silkyara said.

The workers need to drill up to 60 metres to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes ¨C one after the other -- with the help of a giant drill machine till an escape passage is created for the labourers stuck behind the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel.

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How long will the rescue take

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh, who visited the rescue site, set "two or three days" as the "outer limit" for the new machine to get the job done.

The drilling works gained momentum since Thursday after three giant auger machines were flown in from Delhi.

Why the rescue has been delayed?

At first, when the 30-40 metre portion of the tunnel collapsed on Sunday morning, rescue workers had tried excavating the rubble using an earth-moving machine. But later, a smaller drilling machine was used. But on Tuesday, it developed a technical snag, which threatened to derail the entire operation.

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On Wednesday, IAF's C-130 Hercules planes brought the US-made auger machine, in parts, from Delhi. The 25-tonne piece of equipment was installed overnight and put to use.

How the trapped men are doing

Meanwhile, the authorities have insisted that the 40 men who have been trapped inside the tunnel since Sunday are healthy.

According to Navayuga Engineering Company's spokesperson, GL Nath, the trapped men are supplied with oxygen, medicines, food, and water through pipes.

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What preparations have been made for trapped workers

A six-bed makeshift health facility has been set up, and 10 ambulances with doctors are also stationed outside the tunnel to provide immediate medical care to the trapped workers on their evacuation, officials said.

"I have spoken with them, and their morale is high. They understand that all efforts are being made for them, and we are weighing all options to rescue them," minister Singh said.

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Doctors have advised that the workers would need both physical and mental rehabilitation upon being rescued.

Of the 40 labourers, 15 are from Jharkhand, and the rest are from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam.

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