By Arun Pratap Singh
Uttarkashi, 28 Nov: In a major breakthrough, the rescue teams at the Silkyara tunnel site completed the pipe laying work inside the tunnel to rescue the 41 trapped workers. The breakthrough was first officially confirmed by none other than Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in a post on X at 2:10 p.m. while he was on his way back to Silkyara tunnel for the second time today. However, even after the breakthrough in manual drilling of 57 metres, the evacuation of the workers got delayed for a number of reasons. The evacuation of the trapped workers finally began at around 7:30 p.m. this evening. NDRF workers reached the trapped workers on the other side of debris and then mentally and physically prepared them for evacuation. The workers were made to lie down on wheeled stretchers and then pulled out one by one with the help of ropes by the NDRF men positioned on the entrance of the escape tunnel. The time taken to evacuate each worker was estimated at about three to four minutes.
However, even after the breakthrough in manual drilling of 57 metres, the evacuation of the workers got delayed for a number of reasons. Reason number one was that the last pipe of 800 mm diameter that was pushed through had bent a little. Thereafter, it was decided to cut the bent portion and then push in more pipes to ensure the safety of the trapped workers.
Another reason was that NDRF teams after reaching the other side of the debris in the tunnel, where the trapped workers were located, had to prepare workers ready for evacuation and then remove whatever debris is stuck inside the drilled pipe. An additional 3 metre pipe also had to be pushed in before beginning the evacuation process to prevent falling of debris in the escape pipe. Mock drills were also carried out regarding evacuation.
Another point worth mentioning is that there was no official confirmation of completion of the rescue mission till late evening. Unofficially, it was revealed that once evacuation begins, it is expected to take 3 to 4 minutes to pull out each of the 41 workers. Once out, an on-the-spot medical checkup will be carried out in the tunnel, itself, and then the workers are to be taken to Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre where they will be under medical observation for up to 72 hours depending on the condition of the workers.
A special ward with 41 oxygen-supported beds has been readied at the community health centre in Chinyalisaur, about 30 km from Silkyara, for the rescued workers. Those requiring advanced medical care will be airlifted in a Chinook chopper to AIIMS Rishikesh and even AIIMS in New Delhi if required. AIIMS Rishikesh and AIIMS New Delhi have been put on alert. Every rescued worker will be taken in a separate fully equipped ambulance. As many as 41 fully equipped ambulances were lined up outside tunnel in a ready position to carry the workers after the evacuation and primary health checkup.
Earlier, in the morning, too, Dhami had inspected the final stage of the manual drilling and the preparations for evacuation before coming to Dehradun to inaugurate the Sixth World Congress on Disaster Management. Then again, he returned to Silkyara to monitor the evacuation process. Union Minister of State and former Army Chief General VK Singh (Retd) has been camping here over the past six days, personally monitoring the rescue mission and was still present at the site along with CM Dhami at the time this report was filed. Doctors were standing by and arrangements made to fly the workers to more advanced hospitals, if needed.
It may be recalled that the workers have been trapped in the tunnel since 12 November. The rescue mission has been hampered intermittently due to unforeseen hurdles. The horizontal drilling was started first with an auger machine which was soon damaged. Then a heavy American auger machine and a backup machine were brought. However, the American machine was also damaged and had to be repaired before further drilling. However, as the drilling was resumed, the blades and the auger bit of the machine were damaged due to metal frames coming in the way. This led to the decision to consider several options including manual horizontal drilling, vertical drilling from the top and perpendicular drilling for a drift tunnel. Yesterday, rescue efforts received a shot in the arm as the debris and broken parts of the Augur drilling machine were cleared from the horizontal passage. Manual drilling by rat miners commenced yesterday evening. The vertical drilling was today completed to a depth of 45 metres but, by this time, the rat miners along with an army team managed to get the manual pipe through till a distance of 57 metres. Rat-hole mining experts manually drilled through the last 10- 12-metre stretch of debris of the collapsed portion and cleared it. In the final leg of the mission, the last pipe was pushed through and welded, before trapped workers could be evacuated.
As has been practiced in the mock drill, each worker is to lie down on a wheeled stretcher and then pulled out through ropes by rescue workers positioned just outside the escape pipe. This operation was expected to take up to three hours to be completed.
Earlier, L&T team leader and an international expert, Chris Cooper while speaking this afternoon to the media persons had predicted an early end to the workers’ ordeal. He said vertical drilling, the simultaneous drilling operation to reach the workers from above the tunnel, had now been called off.
