Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Manual Drilling Being Considered, No Timeline Yet For Rescue Work

The rescue operations to evacuate 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district has entered fourteenth day on Saturday.

On Friday, the auger drilling machine hit a metal girder in the evening, a little after drilling was resumed after officials resolved a technical snag. The 25-tonne machine was reactivated, and drilling recommenced. Nevertheless, a new obstacle emerged when, after about an hour of boring, the drill encountered a metal girder, prompting another pause in the rescue operation. As of Saturday, the rescue efforts marked their fourteenth day.

Once the auger drilling machine is removed from the tunnel pipeline, manual drilling can commence for the final 6-9 meters, according to a senior official involved in the rescue mission. Declining to specify the rescue operation's timeframe, the official expressed optimism that today's new drilling process might yield positive outcomes.

Uttarakhand's Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, has instructed agencies to expedite the final phase of rescue operations due to workers being trapped in the debris since November 12.

Rescuers have opted to insert a pipe into the drilled section of the rubble. So far, approximately 46 meters of steel pipe has been installed to create a passage.

NDRF workers have devised a plan to extract the trapped workers individually using wheeled stretchers, demonstrating the technique in a video as well.