Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue: Evacuation Of Workers To Take 3-4 Hours, Says NDMA

In a race against time, rescue operations continue fervently for the 41 workers trapped inside the under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi. Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), emphasized the meticulous implementation of safety measures, cautioning against premature announcements that could jeopardize the ongoing efforts.

"We are on the brink of a breakthrough," he affirmed, detailing the progress made to reach a depth of 58 meters within the tunnel. The relentless manual labor, supported by rat miners, experts, and Army engineers, has propelled the operation forward, inching closer to the trapped workers.

Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, Member, NDMA, says "We are near a breakthrough but not yet there. Manual work has carried on and we have reached 58 metres. The debris had been cut and the work was going on the entire night. Our rat miners, experts and Army engineers have been able to take it to 58 metres and the pipe has been pushed with the help of the auger machine..."

Less than an hour later, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the process of laying the escape pipe into the drilled passage was complete. "Soon all brother workers will be brought out," he posted on social media.

An eight-bed makeshift health centre was set up inside the tunnel to provide immediate medical care to the workers after their evacuation.

Ambulances had lined up at the mouth of the tunnel to rush the rescued workers to the community health centre about 30 kilometres away, after the initial checkup at the site.

A stretch of mud road was re-laid to make the passage of ambulances easier. Stretchers were being taken inside the mouth of the tunnel.

As information about the "breakthrough" emerged at the site, some people outside chanted "Jai Shri Ram".

Earlier, L&T team leader Chris Cooper predicted an early end to the workers' ordeal. "It is likely that they will be out before 5 pm,'' he told reporters. He said vertical drilling, the simultaneous drilling operation to reach the workers from above the tunnel, had now been called off.

Officials decided to switch to manual boring to break through the last 10 metres of the rubble after the heavy-duty auger drilling machine got stuck in the rubble on Friday.

Twelve rat-hole mining experts were called in to finish the last stretch of drilling using hand-held tools in a confined space.

Waiting at the tunnel site to see his 22-year-old son Manjit, Chaudhry said officials had told the families camping in Silkyara that arrangements will be made for them wherever the workers are taken after evacuation.

''Even, nature looks cheerful today," Jaimal Singh said as he waited for his brother Gabbar Singh's evacuation.

"We have been asked to keep our belongings rolled up and wait for further instructions,'' he said.

A special ward with 41 oxygen-supported beds was readied days earlier at the community health centre in Chinyalisaur, about 30 km from Silkyara, for the rescued workers.

Doctors were standing by and arrangements made to fly the workers to more advanced hospitals, if needed.