Uttarkashi: IAS Abhishek Ruhela, the district magistrate for Uttarkashi, attested to the workers’ safety and mentioned that they have pipeline access to essential supplies including food, medicine, and oxygen.
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: On Friday, the sixth day of rescue efforts to extricate 40 laborers stranded beneath the rubble of a collapsed tunnel on the Char Dham path in Uttarakhand began. Using a sturdy machine, rescuers in Uttarkashi worked through the night, reaching up to 21 meters into the debris-filled Silkyara tunnel by Friday morning.
Anshu Manish Khalkho, the Director of NHIDCL, stated that in order to create an escape route for the laborers trapped behind the collapsed section of the under-construction tunnel, they must drill up to 60 meters to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes, one after the other, with the aid of a massive drill machine, PTI reported.
A section of the tunnel collapsed owing to a landslide on Sunday morning, trapping the laborers inside.
The Silkyara control room of the state emergency action center reported that drilling had reached a depth of 21 meters thus far. On the Silkyara side of the tunnel, the debris-filled region begins 270 meters from the entrance.
Abhishek Ruhela, the district magistrate for Uttarkashi, attested to the workers’ safety and mentioned that they have pipeline access to essential supplies including food, medicine, and oxygen. He also underlined the continuous efforts at communication meant to raise their spirits during this trying time.
On the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand, an IAF-flown heavy-duty drilling machine from Delhi started removing debris from the collapsed tunnel yesterday, in an effort to provide a new exit for the 40 stranded workers.
“The drilling machine has been installed and is already working there (at the tunnel collapse site),” said Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand. Although the conditions are difficult there, the drilling project will shortly be finished. I hope everything works out and we can get our brothers back soon,” he continued.
As the new drilling equipment got going, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh stopped at the scene to supervise the rescue effort.
