Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Manual Drilling Underway; PM Modi Prays For Safety of Trapped Workers | Updates

Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Manual Drilling Underway; PM Modi Prays For Safety of Trapped Workers | Updates

Manual drilling began on Monday after the world-class auger machine failed to rescue 41 workers, who had been trapped inside the collapsed site of the Uttarkashi tunnel for over 15 days. The rescuers have pushed the pipe in up to one metre inside the tunnel so far.

Meanwhile, vertical drilling from above the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel has been done up to 31 metres and the experts believe that the boring is likely to be completed by November 30.

Top NDMA expert also informed that the broken blades of the auger machine have been fully retrieved while the rescuers also brought in “rat miners” to drill through a narrow pipe at the collapse site.

Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Here Are Top Updates of The Day

• Rescuers on Monday adopted the manual drilling process and managed to push the pipe in up to 1 metre.
• 36 meters of vertical drilling was completed to make an escape route for the trapped workers, said an NHIDC official.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi prayed for the safe evacuation of 41 workers trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel.
• The broken part of the auger machine and debris were removed from the main horizontal approach from the Silkyara end of the tunnel.
• Prayers were offered at the main entrance of the Silkyara tunnel collapse site where rescue operations to bring out the 41 trapped workers are underway.
• A PMO delegation headed by Principal Secretary to the PM Pramod Kumar Mishra went inside Uttarkashi’s Silkyara tunnel to take stock of ongoing rescue efforts.
•  Drone cameras were deployed at the Silkyara tunnel site on Monday to monitor the rescue operation.
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning/hail likely to occur in some areas for some areas in Uttarkashi while rescue efforts are underway.

A portion of the Silkyara tunnel collapsed on November 12, cutting off the exit of the workers inside. A huge auger drill a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end that is drilling into this stretch of debris got stuck Friday evening, forcing officials to give up on the 25-tonne machine.

The communication between the trapped workers and their relatives has been going on relatively smoothly for the last few days through a six-inch wide pipeline laid to provide food and other essentials to them.