Shillong, November 28: A specialized team of rat-hole mining experts commenced manual drilling on Monday to rescue 41 workers confined within the collapsed Silkyara tunnel.
As per India Today, 12 skilled experts engaged in horizontal manual drilling, navigating through the final 10 to 12 meters of debris in the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route. The ongoing effort has successfully completed 51.5 meters of horizontal drilling.
The rescue operation continued on Tuesday, with rat-hole mining experts summoned to perform manual drilling amidst the rubble. By Monday evening, the remnants of the malfunctioned auger drilling machine were meticulously removed, allowing the insertion of a steel pipe into the partially constructed escape passage.
Vertical drilling from above the tunnel advanced to 86 meters by Tuesday morning. The rescue team anticipates extracting workers through a one-meter-wide shaft upon its breakthrough from the top of the tunnel below, with a target set for Thursday.
Rat-hole mining, characterized by miners descending narrow burrows to extract minimal quantities of coal, is a contentious and perilous technique. Initially executed by the now-faulty auger machine, which became lodged in the rubble on November 24, officials redirected their focus to an alternative approach – drilling downward from above the tunnel. The strategic combination of horizontal and vertical drilling maneuvers underscores the comprehensive efforts to ensure a safe and effective rescue operation.