Uttarkashi : “Every trace of the auger machine has been removed. “Manual drilling is scheduled to begin in about three hours,” Chris Cooper told ANI at the beginning of the week.
In the early afternoon, the auger machine that was drilling the tunnel horizontally ran across a blockage in the pipe, which meant that a plasma cutter had to be used to remove it.
“We have to manually tunnel a distance of nine meters. The time component depends on how the ground behaves. The speed can be quick or last for a longer period of time. We are confident that we can overcome any hurdles, although we may run into lattice girders. In this operation, the Army takes on the role of supervisor. Thirty meters have been reached with vertical drilling,” he added.
The former Army engineer-in-chief, Lieutenant General Harpal Singh (retd), argued earlier today that the manual approach is the only remaining means of gaining access to the workers who are ensnared.
Singh expressed that he was at the location to provide technological expertise and support the ongoing rescue efforts. He highlighted the all-out effort on all fronts to accelerate the rescue efforts.
According to credible reports, the rescue operation would be expedited by using the rat hole mining technique, which involves manually digging a hole to remove dirt obstructing the pipe.
Coal mining is usually the industry that uses the rat hole mining technique, especially in areas with difficult topography.
An eleven-person crew will transit the 800 mm tunnel pipe to remove trash by hand, while a team of six professionals has arrived at the site to carry out the manual drilling. The team consists of civilian experts and engineers from the Madras Engineering Group of the Indian Army.
Simultaneously, joint ventures with the Border Road Organization and additional organizations are in progress to get entry into the tunnel by the different entrance, which is the Barkot end. Out of the 500 meters, only 10 meters were covered by the four controlled detonations that were carried out under BRO supervision.
Furthermore, the SJVN is leading the effort to construct a small tunnel on the left side of the main tunnel, as rescue workers are considering doing.
After the tunnel collapsed partially on November 12, rubble poured into the 60-meter section on the Silkyara side, trapping 41 workers within the still-under-construction structure.
