Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], November 24 (ANI): A 25-tonne platform mounting the auger machine being used to drill through the debris in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand has been repaired, and rescue operations to evacuate 41 workers trapped inside is expected to resume soon, a top-level official said on Friday morning.

The platform on which the equipment was mounted had developed some cracks when the rescue operation was underway on Thursday, and the process of horizontal drilling through the debris had to be paused.

“The problem encountered in the platform on which the American auger machine was mounted has been fixed and now the machine is running smoothly on the platform,” a top official told ANI.
However, the official said that a team from the Defence Research and Development Organisation will study the situation for further operation.

Rescue teams had managed to drill through upto a distance of 46.8 meters of the roughly 55 metres of debris behind which the workers have been trapped and insert pipes in the space cleared. According to the rescue plan, the trapped workers will have to crawl through the escape passage pipes to the mouth of the tunnel.

“Today, the DRDO team will first try to see the situation beyond 48 meters (where the pipeline has been laid) through scanning with special equipment which can probably be called a camera, before starting further drilling. The team will check whether there is no problem with drilling further,” the official said.

He said that the machine used by the team of the DRDO will scan up to the next 20 meters to estimate the situation. “The process of drilling will be started after the scanning report of DRDO,” the official said.

Officials said that no specific timelines should be assumed however if all goes well and the rescue work does not face any obstruction then workers will be out by Saturday afternoon. Today marks Day 13 of the beginning of the the rescue operation.

On November 12, a portion of the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot collapsed and debris falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel trapped 41 labourers inside. The workers are trapped in a 2 km-built portion, which is complete, including concrete work that provides safety to the workers. (ANI)

“No metallic obstruction in next 5 metres; rescue op at Silkyara tunnel to resume soon,” says Former PMO advisor

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], November 24 (ANI): Former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office, Bhaskar Khulbe on Friday said that the rescue operation to evacuate the 41 trapped labourers inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi will resume soon as the technical snag has been fixed. Speaking to ANI here on Friday morning, Khulbe said that the platform on which the Augur drilling machine had developed some cracks on Thursday and has been revamped now.

“The situation is much better now. Last night, we had to work on two things. First, we had to revamp the platform of the machine… Parsons Company had done the ground penetration radar, through which we got to know that for the next 5 meters, there is no metallic obstruction. This means that our drilling should be smooth. When we were taking out the debris, we got two mangled pipes…” Khulbe said, adding that the trapped worker may be evacuated by today.

Further, speaking to the reporters, he said that the Heavy Augur machine is now working smoothly.

“We have been able to fix the Auger machine strongly on its foundation. There were some obstacles on the mouth of the pipe, which we had to clear after cutting it. This is difficult work; hence it is taking time. I hope that the drilling work will begin again by 11-11.30 am. Ground penetration radar study has shown that there is no metallic obstruction in the next 5 metres,” he added.

Notably, Friday marked the 13th day of the rescue operation to evacuate the trapped workers here. On November 12, a portion of the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot collapsed and debris falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel trapped 41 labourers inside. The workers are trapped in a 2 km-built portion, which is complete, including concrete work that provides safety to the workers.

On November 21, the NHIDCL resumed overnight the “horizontal boring operation from the Silkyara end” that involved an auger machine. Images of an auger drilling machine facing obstruction to save workers surfaced on Thursday afternoon. Some of the images from the tunnel showed the steel obstructing the free movement of the rescue pipe inside the tunnel and blocking the other side of the under-construction tunnel.

In one of the images, a shadow of a man is seen capturing the moments on his mobile phone. The debris was removed later, as per officials. Rescuers, using an American Auger machine, resumed drilling on Tuesday and, by late night on Wednesday, drilled through 45 metres out of the 60-metre stretch of debris that blocked the Sikyara side of the under-construction tunnel stretching from Silkyara to Barkot. (ANI)