Rescuing 41 Trapped Workers In Uttarakhand Tunnel - Rescue Operation Enters Final Stage

Only 12 metres separate 41 workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Silkyara and emergency services officials, state officials said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the site around 4.30 pm, former advisor to the prime minister's office Bhaskar Khulbe said, "We are very happy to inform you that (drilling of) a length of six metres has been achieved over the past one hour. Hopefully, the next two-three hours will be comfortable in terms of assembling for the next push and attaining what all of us are waiting for. I hope that when we assemble again at 8 pm we have some similar good news to share with you."

Earlier, an official from the Uttarakhand's Road and Transport Department said that the drilling using an auger machine started at 12:45 am. "We are progressing well. We are also doing horizontal drilling from Barkot side and have entered till 7.9 metres," Hindustan Times quoted a senior official with Uttarakhand's Road and Transport Department as saying.

He said that until the authorities penetrate 45-50 meters inside the tunnel, he cannot specify the precise timeframe for their rescue. "As long as we reach 45-50 metres inside the tunnel, we will not be able to give you the exact time," he said.

"If there are no obstacles, some big news may be received tonight or tomorrow morning. An iron rod has also come along with the debris. It is a matter of happiness that this iron in the middle of laying the pipeline did not create any problems for us," he added.

"This is very happy news for us, that we are moving forward at a fast pace," he added. However, he noted that the remaining section is the most critical.

NHIDCL officials supervising the rescue operations on the spot had on Tuesday said the auger machine will be put back into operation after the 800 mm diameter steel pipes are pushed through the 900 mm diameter steel pipes already laid through the rubble using the telescopic method.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami once again on Wednesday morning to take updates on the rescue operations underway at the tunnel and food and other essentials including medicines being supplied to the trapped workers through a new wider pipeline laid for the purpose.

It was through this new pipeline that the first visuals were captured of the trapped workers early on Tuesday with the help of an endoscopic flexi camera sent beyond the rubble. Dhami briefed the prime minister about the positive progress made over the last 24 hours in the rescue efforts being carried out at the tunnel with coordination between the state government, the central agencies and the international tunnelling experts.

"We are getting continuous guidance from the Prime Minister in this difficult situation. It provides us with a new energy every day to evacuate our trapped brothers safely at the earliest applying all our strength," Dhami said on X.