Shillong, November 26: As the 41 trapped workers in Uttarkashi’s collapsed tunnel enter their 15th day of confinement, rescue authorities gear up for manual drilling on Sunday.
The auger machine, vital for drilling through debris, suffered damage on Friday, prompting manual cutting.
As per India Today, efforts have shifted to vertical drilling on the hilltop above the Silkyara tunnel, aiming to create an alternative route for the trapped individuals. Horizontal drilling faced significant challenges on Friday, revealing the auger machine’s critical damage, as confirmed by international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix on Saturday.
Once the compromised auger machine is removed, manual drilling, spanning approximately 10 meters, will commence. Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) cautioned that the operation might take an extended period.
Manual drilling involves workers entering the existing 47-meter rescue passage, taking turns to drill briefly in the confined space. Heavy vertical drilling equipment, facilitated by the Border Road Organisation (BRO), has been transported to the Silkyara tunnel site.
Dix, expressing confidence, assured that the trapped individuals would be rescued “by Christmas,” a month away. The halted auger machine, weighing 25 tonnes, has created a 46.9-meter horizontal passage into the rubble, out of the estimated 60-meter total length. Despite setbacks, workers remain safe, and rescue strategies are being reassessed to navigate the challenges posed by the resistant mountain.