Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: 42 Meters Drilled, "Only A Few Meters Are Left"
It has been a week since the Uttarkashi tunnel collapsed trapping 40 worker. Auger Machines are used to drill a vertical tunnel for taking out the workers. While talking to reporters, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjith Sinha said the rescue teams are inserting a 90mm diameter pipe with the aid of Auger machine.
He said, “we are inserting a 90 mm diameter pipe with the help of Auger machine. We have reached 22 meters and we are going ahead rapidly. There is a lifeline pipe for sending food and other necessary items. We are inserting another pipe above it because there was less debris there”.
He also added that the rescue workers were able to drill 42 meters through the rubbles and “only a few metres are left”.
Earlier, after an inspection to the site of accident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the first priority of using Auger machine was to “keep the victims alive”. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the construction wing of Indian Army is on the field working to clear paths for the machine to reach at the top if the tunnel and dig a vertical tunnel to get the trapped labourers outside.
Reports said, he high-capacity machine from Delhi, which was intended to get through the rubbles paving way for the trapped workers to crawl through has failed. several methods are being tried by the rescue teams to get through the rubbles.
At least 40 workers trapped inside the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand, which was under construction. The tragical incident occurred on last Sunday, November 12th, early morning around 4 am, as the tunnel meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand‘s Uttarkashi collapsed partially. The rescue and relief operations are underway and the workers trapped inside were reportedly contacted through walkie-talkies. The workers are all unharmed and were given food and oxygen through pipe, said the officials.
