New Delhi: The 41 workers trapped inside a Uttarakhand tunnel since 12 November are doing well, international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said at the site Tuesday, as the multi-pronged rescue operation looked to make a breakthrough.
“I might have heard they are playing cricket,” said the professor, who is president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
Later in the afternoon, tunnel expert Chris Cooper said the workers could be evacuated as early as in the next three hours.
#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper says, "We are still mining…Everybody is very excited and energetic…Let us see what happens. We have stopped vertical drilling and the focus is on manual drilling…" pic.twitter.com/U1I2jCr2Nb
— ANI (@ANI) November 28, 2023
The workers were sent cricket bats to keep them engaged, as were some mobile phones.
The men are confined in a two-kilometre stretch inside the 4.5-km Silkyara-Barkot tunnel, parts of which collapsed in the early hours of 12 November.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday morning, Dix said he was feeling good about the rescue so far. While just five metres are believed to be left to bore through in the horizontal approach to the workers, Dix urged caution.
“Even if we were at one metre, it is still 1,000 kilometres under an avalanche because you never know what is next,” said Dix, who specialises in the safety of underground infrastructure.
VIDEO | "I just feel good. The drilling on top of the mountain is coming along perfectly, in the tunnel, it's coming along very well. I have never said 'I feel good' before. I might have heard they (trapped workers) are playing cricket," says international tunnelling expert… pic.twitter.com/rg1LLKCG43
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 28, 2023
Earlier Tuesday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said evacuation pipes had been inserted up to 52 metres in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel after rat-hole miners cleared more rubble manually.
Manual drilling had to be taken up Monday after the 25-tonne auger machine broke down three days ago — having cleared around 45 metres of the estimated 57 to 60 metres of obstructing debris.
Since then, 12 rat-hole miners have been cutting and removing the debris by hand in this hazardous procedure found in coal mines where groups of men slide down narrow shafts to excavate small quantities of coal.
Dhami also said Tuesday that the expected breakthrough would be at another five metres. “It will be pushed two metres more to 54 metres after which one more pipe will be laid,” the chief minister said, adding the mining team had not encountered stubborn iron girders so far, only stones.
After his on-site inspection, Dhami posted on X that doctors were in constant touch with the workers inside. “They have been given instructions. All the workers are healthy and safe.”
The men have been getting food, water and oxygen through pipes since the collapse.
As the frantic rescue continued for the 17th day Tuesday, a total of five agencies — ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL — were on the job, along with international experts.
Vertical drilling had also been taken up to reach the men from the top of the tunnel, but was stopped Tuesday to “ensure there was no hindrance in the (horizontal manual) drilling work below”, news agency ANI reported.
Also read: Rescuers reach very close to 41 men trapped inside the collapsed Uttarkashi tunnel