Passing 15 Days Of Uttarakhand Tunnel Crash: 41 Trapped, Rescue On Final Phase (Image:X/Subhashis K Chakraborty)

It”s been 15 days since an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand collapsed and 41 workers trapped inside. Rescue operations are still underway after multiple obstructions, and food and oxygen were supplied through temporary pipes. The remaining parts of the auger machine stuck in the rubble at tunnel were removed early on Monday, reported the news agency PTI.

Almost 20 metres was covered out of the 86 metres by vertical drilling and now the rescuers are planning to manually dig through the remaining debris to reach the trapped workers.

Read on the tunnel crash and its updates in a nutshell:

1. An under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand collapsed on Sunday, November 12, early morning around 4 am.
2. The tunnel was meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand‘s Uttarkashi and was collapsed partially.
3. 41 workers were trapped inside and rescue and relief operations were underway. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with police and local administration were in action.
4. The workers are all unharmed and were given food and oxygen through pipe.
5. The rescue team was supposed to cover approximately 60 meters to reach the trapped personnel. The tunnel is 13 metre wide and to drill and remove the debris was not an easy task.
6. In the last days, the operations encountered repeated pauses.
7. The rescue team has used horizontal drilling and now the agencies moved forward with the vertical drilling method. The vertical format was implemented after the American auger machine hit a metal grinder in the rubble and broke down, beyond repair.
8. The vertical drilling will began on Sunday and almost 20 metres of the total 86 metres were covered.
9. A steel pipe will be inserted through which the trapped workers will be wheeled out of the wreckage using stretchers.
10. Manual drilling is also in consideration, if vertical doesn’t facilitate the situation. This method has only fewer risks but consumes more time, approximately 18-24 hours to complete.