Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: On Friday, the sixth day of rescue efforts to free 40 workmen buried beneath the debris of the collapsed tunnel on the Char Dham path in Uttarakhand began. The task of locating and freeing the trapped workers from the wreckage of the collapsed tunnel was started by a powerful drilling equipment.
A six-meter segment of steel pipe had been placed into the bored passage, according to officials. It was being welded to another part.
With the aid of the enormous drill, it is intended to gradually insert pipes with diameters of 800 and 900 mm until an escape route is made for the workers who are trapped past the collapsed section of the tunnel that is still under construction.
Experts from Norway and Thailand were consulted due to the unstable nature of the mountains where the collapsed tunnel is situated, and they estimated that approximately 50 meters of rubble would need to be broken through in order to implant the tubes for evacuation, according to India Today.
On Wednesday, IAF’s C-130 Hercules aircraft transported the US-made auger machine, in sections, from Delhi to an airport 30 kilometers distant in case the smaller drilling equipment was unable to complete the task. According to PTI reporting, the 25-ton piece of equipment was erected over night.
During his visit to the rescue site, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh established “two or three days” as the “outer limit” for the new equipment to complete the task.
With an air of optimism, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that all tunnel projects in the state will now be evaluated.
“I’ve been informed that the new drilling apparatus has already broken through the rubble five to seven meters. Drilling at a rate of five to ten meters every hour, we expect it will soon reach the trapped workers,” Dhami informed the journalists.
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The chief minister also gave the state administration instructions to work with federal agencies and carry out 24-hour rescue efforts. In order to maintain continuous communication and interaction with the families of the workers stranded in the tunnel, the administration has supplied phone numbers.
According to PTI, G L Nath, a spokesman for Navayuga Engineering Company, the stranded laborers are safe and receiving oxygen, medications, food, and water through pipes.
But according to Dr. Ajay Agarwal, director of Internal Medicine at Fortis Hospital in Noida, the victims may have panic attacks as a result of spending a lot of time in enclosed areas.
According to officials, the initial drilling machine proved to be too slow and technical problems arose, so a second auger machine was flown in.
Workers at the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway protested the perceived slowness of the operation to rescue their colleagues who had been stuck within for more than 72 hours by using slogans to voice their dissatisfaction.
