Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Efforts underway to save 41 workers stuck, will take 4-5 days, says official

Rescue teams in the Indian state of Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi are racing against time to save 41 workers who have been trapped after an under-construction tunnel collapsed for eight days now. The efforts are underway as of Sunday (Nov 19) with officials now trying to drill a vertical hole from the top of the hill under which the workers have been trapped and build an access road. 

As of Sunday, officials are trying to drill a vertical hole from the top of the hill to build an access road to reach the 41 workers. Those trapped were provided food and other essentials by large diameter pipes through the debris, on Sunday morning, said a control room set up at the site.

The work to build a platform to start vertical drilling began on Saturday evening by the country’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO). 

Meanwhile, senior officials including those from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) who visited the site are still stationed in Silkyara to oversee the operations to ensure safe and speedy evacuation of the trapped workers. 

Officials from the PMO and experts at the site are working simultaneously on five plans to rescue the trapped workers. 

The five plans include drilling from one end to the other on both Silkyara and Barkot sides, vertical drilling from the top of the tunnel and perpendicular drilling, said former advisor to the PM, Bhaskar Khulbe, as per PTI. 

However, Khulbe said that it might still take four to five days to rescue the dozens of workers stuck with the concerted efforts of various agencies present at the site. 

This comes as there was a slight hiccup in the efforts after drilling was stopped on Friday evening following what officials called a sudden “cracking sound” from the machine. 

A report by PTI citing sources said National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) MD Mahmood Ahmed has been made in charge of coordination with all the central agencies and has been stationed at Silkyara. 

All the agencies concerned have posted senior officers at the site and the government has given a clear direction that whatever is possible be done for the rescue operation, the source told PTI.

Indian Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrived at the accident site to conduct an on-site inspection and review the ongoing rescue and relief operation. 

“We are working on all the possibilities available. All types of expert teams are working here,” said the Uttarakhand CM. 

A section of the under-construction tunnel on the Yamunotri National Highway connecting Silkyara to Dandalgaon collapsed late Saturday. 

The tunnel part broke around 200 metres ahead of the starting point on the Silkyara side of Brahmakhal-Polgaon, a local police official had said.

The trapped workers are reportedly in a 400-metre buffer zone within the tunnel, and their safety is being closely monitored. 

(With inputs from agencies)