Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Drilling work stopped, another machine from Indore to reach today

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: The ongoing rescue operation to reach 40 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi faced a setback as drilling work was halted after progressing 25 metres into the rubble

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: The ongoing rescue operation to reach 40 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi faced a setback as drilling work was halted after progressing 25 metres into the rubble, a senior official told ANI. According to the report, the workers have been trapped for six days following the collapse of a portion of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel on November 12.

The director of tunnel-making company NHIDCL, Anshu Manish Khulko, stated that the drilling work aiming to reach the trapped workers was temporarily suspended and that the pause was not due to a fault in the machinery employed for the rescue operation.

"There was no fault in the machine. The work on enabling the insertion of a pipeline to extricate the trapped workers had been ongoing over the last three days. Only 25 metres of the pipe-laying work has been completed so far," he told ANI.

Over the last three days, efforts have been directed towards installing a pipeline for the workers' extraction; only 25 metres of pipe laying have been finished, according to Khulko. It is expected that the managing director of NHIDCL will show up at the scene to evaluate the current rescue operations and offer more information.

To assist with the rescue effort, drilling equipment from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has been called in and is anticipated to arrive at the tunnel location, the report added.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' under-construction Silkyara Tunnel, a vital component of the Chardham Project, is where the collapse happened. This 4531-meter tunnel, which links the Gangotri and Yamunotri axes, is essential to the growth of the local infrastructure.

According to the report, forty metres of the collapsed tunnel have been covered by concrete spraying and excavation operations, according to NHIDCL, the organisation in charge of tunnel construction through Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. Along the tunnel, formations resembling a chimney and a hollow have also surfaced, indicating continued efforts to free the trapped miners.

Rescue efforts have been suspended due to the event, highlighting the difficulties in freeing the trapped personnel from the collapsed tunnel. In the middle of the ongoing rescue operation, authorities are still working to restore access and guarantee worker safety.

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