New Delhi: The rescue teams on Tuesday tried to make contact with workers trapped inside the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot through walkie-talkie, news agency ANI reported. Rescuers have started the work of laying the pipeline inside the Silkyara Tunnel. Earlier, the vertical drilling machine from the upper part of the hill above the tunnel reached the Tunnel.
On the ninth day of rescue operations at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site here, rescuers achieved a ‘breakthrough’ by pushing a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble of the collapsed portion, where 41 labourers are trapped. Through this 6-inch alternative lifeline, hot Khichdi was sent to the stranded workers for the first time since they were trapped.
On November 12, it was reported that a collapse occurred in an under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to a muck falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, trapping 41 labourers. As per the government, the labourers are trapped in the 2 km-long tunnel portion, which is complete, including concrete work that provides safety to the workers.
Electricity and water are available in the tunnel, and workers are provided food items and medicines through a 4-inch compressor pipeline.
Earlier in the day, rescue operation in-charge Colonel Deepak Patil said that although their ‘main challenge’ is evacuating trapped men through a 900-mm pipe, which will be attempted later, food, mobiles, and chargers will be sent inside the tunnel through the 6-inch lifeline.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and took stock of the rescue operations underway
Source: Zee News