Uttarkashi Rescuers ‘Only Just Metres Away’ From Finding Passage to Trapped Workers, Drilling Halted Again | Updates

The long wait continues for 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara collapsed tunnel as the rescuers failed to find passage to them after the drilling machine stopped on the 12th of the operation.

This came just hours after drilling to evacuate 41 trapped workers resumed, following a six-hour setback Wednesday night as the American machine encountered an iron girdle.

Earlier, drilling was put on hold from Friday afternoon to Tuesday night when the machine encountered a hurdle.

Rescuers have drilled up to 46.8 meters in the Silkyara tunnel till now.

Arnold Dix, who heads an international consortium of experts in tunnelling and is currently in Silkyara to offer advice, said the auger machine is being repaired and it should be back up Friday.

Top Updates in Tunnel Rescue Op

• International Tunneling Expert, Arnold Dix said, “We are only just metres away from finding passage to have the men back. But the men are safe. The auger machine has broken down, it is being repaired and it should be back up tomorrow. The drilling machine has broken down three times…”
• A senior member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned against putting “pressure” on the rescuers at the site of the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi’s Silkayra by expecting the rescue operation to be completed in the “next two hours”. He said both, the trapped workers and the rescue personnel are at equal risk
• NDMA member Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain earlier said he hopes to get successful in the operation by Friday.
• A temporary Uttarakhand Chief Minister Camp office has been set up in Matali, Uttarkashi. CM Dhami took stock of the tunnel rescue operation and also consulted with the experts present there.
• Locals brought the ‘doli’ of the local deity to the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi.
• Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) held a meeting to review the relief and rescue operations at the Silkayra tunnel in Uttarkashi.
• NDRF personnel have plans to pull out the trapped workers one by one with the help of wheeled stretchers tied to ropes after the rescue pipe breaks through the debris at the Silkyara tunnel, a senior official said.
• Psychiatrists and mental health doctors have also had a conversation with the 41 trapped workers.
• CM Dhami had a conversation with Gabbar Singh Negi and Saba Ahmed, the workers trapped in the tunnel under construction in Silkyara, Uttarkashi, to inquire about their well-being.