By Arun Pratap Singh
Uttarkashi, 24 Nov: The rescue operation to extract 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel on Yamunotri Highway, here, continued on day 13 amid fresh hurdles, as well as hopes. Some significant developments did happen through the day and though the officials are now hesitating to fix a deadline for the completion of the rescue mission, unofficially it is being claimed that it may get over any time before early morning tomorrow. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami along with former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also visited the rescue site to review the mission, while Union Minister of State for Urban Transport Gen VK Singh (Retd) is also camping at the rescue site since yesterday. The current visit of Singh is his second tour to the site.
Chief Minister Dhami has also set up a camp office at Matli not far from the rescue site.
Various government agencies are working tirelessly on each assigned task to ensure the safe evacuation of the workers. A large number of national and international experts are present at the site to advise on the rescue operation. The government maintains constant communication to boost the morale of those trapped.
The most significant development in the past 24 hours was that the drilling began again this evening after it was stopped last evening. At the time of filing of this story, drilling of 8 to 10 metres was left to reach the trapped workers. It may be recalled that, in the past 48 hours, the drilling process was severely hampered due to some hard obstacles in the form of steel bars and girders coming in way of the drilling area. In addition, the Auger Drilling machine was also partially damaged yesterday and, after it was repaired and restarted, the platform where it had been installed suffered damage. Through the night and the early part of the day, fresh hurdles in the form of metallic structures that had come in the way were removed with the help of gas cutters manually, while the platform for the auger machine was rebuilt. The platform has been strengthened through anchoring, bolting and concreting the foundation. After this, the auger machine was again reassembled, followed by removing a pipe which had got damaged and bent to an angle.
Late, this evening, the drilling process began again. Reports later in the evening have mentioned that metallic obstructions have come up again and measures are being taken to clear them. This could lead to further delay.
At the same time, after a wait of several days, a very heavy drill machine intended for vertical drilling also arrived this morning at the site. Though the road has been already constructed to take the machine above the tunnel for vertical drilling, this is yet to be done as the experts feel that it may not be required after all. One pipe of 800 mm diameter was placed and was being pushed as this story was filed and this will be followed by pushing and drilling yet another pipe before the completion of the task.
Freshly cooked food and fresh fruits are being inserted inside the tunnel at regular intervals using the 2nd life line (150 mm) service which has been extended from the initial position to a distance of 12 metres to ensure higher stability and safety. Consignments consisting of roti, dal, mixed vegetable and fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, etc., along with medicines and salts have been supplied to the trapped workers.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took stock of the Silkyara Tunnel Rescue Operation here today. He sought updates regarding the relief and rescue operations going on in the tunnel. During the inspection, he noted that this is a very challenging and risky rescue operation. The responsibility of saving the precious lives of 41 people trapped in the tunnel is on the government and the agencies engaged in rescue operation. The people involved in the campaign would have to work day and night to make the mission successful with full efficiency, capacity, promptness and caution. He also asserted that there is no dearth of resources for this work. Dhami was accompanied by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. He also held a meeting after the inspection during which Union Minister of State General VK Singh (Retd), former CM and Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Anurag Jain, Additional Secretary (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India) and MD (NHIDCL) Mahmood Ahmed were also present.
A mock drill by NDRF to bring out the workers from the tunnel through the drilled pipe was also carried when the Auger machine had been pulled out for reassembly and no drilling was in progress. During this time, some experts of Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) also went inside the drilled pipe to study if there were more hurdles in way of drilling process. The GPR equipment scanned a distance up to 5.4 metres and assessed that there was no continuous metallic hurdle till a distance of at least 6 metres raising the hopes of good progress in drilling without any new hurdle. An advanced drone showed the way in the tunnel with artificial intelligence too. A team of six tunnelling-mining expert engineers from Bangalore’s Squadron Infra reached the tunnel and reported the situation inside through artificial intelligence, indicating the possibility of smoother operation ahead. BRO DDG Brigadier Vishal Verma took the help of Bangalore-based Squadron Infra and Mining Private Limited company amid difficulties in drilling inside the debris.
In the afternoon, a press briefing was held at the Temporary Media Centre. Additional Secretary (Ministry of Road Transport Highways, Government of India) and MD (NHIDCL) Mahmood Ahmed stated that drilling started beyond 45 metres with the auger machine and a total of 1.8 meters of drilling was completed last evening. However, some metal pieces were stuck in the auger machine which had to be manually cut off. He informed that fresh progress of drilling a further distance of 1.2 metre has been achieved. However, a 1.2 metre long portion of the drilled pipe got damaged and was removed. He added that further drilling will be carried out with utmost caution so that no fresh damage to the machine is caused.
Secretary to Government of Uttarakhand Dr Neeraj Khairwal, Director General, Information, Banshidhar Tiwari were also present at the site.
