Working round-the-clock with a powerful machine, rescue workers have drilled through up to 24 metres of rubble in the Silkyara tunnel till Friday afternoon, inching closer to the 40 labourers trapped inside for five days

"The IAF has continued with its operations to assist the ongoing tunnel rescue underway at Dharasu, Uttarakhand. An IAF C-17 has been deployed to airlift almost 22 Tonnes of critical equipment from Indore to Dehradun," the IAF posted on X

Meanwhile, sources in the IAF shared some of the challenges that were faced by the force on November 15 when it was pressed into action to assist in rescue operations undergoing near Uttarkashi in the hill state

The rescue operations were "halted due to failure of an equipment" which was earlier utilised to create a passage, a source said

The time-critical mission demanded a swift action to deliver the equipment as close as possible to the rescue location. The IAF took a prompt decision to launch its special operation platform C-130J -- Super Hercules -- to deliver the task, the sources said

The success of the operation was a result of pinpoint execution. The expertise of the IAF aircrew flying C-130J was evident wherein "the whole operation was executed within less than five hours", the sources said

In the five-hour operation, Dharasu ALG (Advanced Landing Ground), located at Chinyalisaur, was identified as the nearest possible location for the expeditious operation. The ALG is located nearly 30 km from the rescue site. Dharasu ALG is a short and narrow airstrip of 3,600 ft situated at an elevation of 3,000 ft above mean sea level, they said