Uttarkashi: Two days after rescue operations to pull out 41 trapped workers from the collapsed Uttarkashi tunnel through a horizontal route were halted due to technical difficulties, the focus is back on the top of the debris mountain over the tunnel, ThePrint has learnt.
According to government officials at the spot, drill machines are en route, using which rescuers will try to open up a vertical passage to send a trolley down to the workers. However, rescue work was still at a standstill as of Saturday afternoon.
The decision to focus again on digging a vertical passage comes on day 14 of the operation. The same method was considered five days earlier as well.
The rescue operation had taken a hit as the US-made auger machine being used to drill a horizontal passage kept encountering hurdles in the form of debris including metal objects. This caused all drilling work to stop Thursday. The machine broke down Friday night as well, and got stuck in debris.
On Saturday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a press conference where he said that the auger machine’s blades got stuck inside the rubble, so a plasma cutter needed to release it has been ordered from Hyderabad and is expected to reach by night.
A portion of the Silkyara tunnel — which is part of the Narendra Modi government’s flagship Char Dham All Weather Road Project aimed at connecting Uttarakhand’s major pilgrimage points — collapsed on 12 November.
According to government officials, machines to drill vertically were dispatched to Radi Top — the point where the tunnel had collapsed — Saturday morning, and work will begin once rescuers pull out the auger machine from the debris.
Authorities have however still not ruled out the possibility of reaching the trapped men through the horizontal route, where just 15 more metres of the total 60 metres of debris are yet to be cleared to reach them. From the top down, rescuers will have to drill for around 90 metres to reach the workers.
State agencies such as the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the National Disaster Response Force, and the State Disaster Response Force, and public sector corporations such as Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the SJVN, and some international experts are currently involved in the rescue operation.
‘Rescue may take 3-4 more days’
A government official told ThePrint that work had to stop Thursday after a blade of the auger machine broke while trying to drill a passage through the debris. He also conceded that as a result of the change in strategy, the entire rescue could now take as many as 3-4 days. This is because rescuers will have to stop drilling every few minutes to prevent vibrations of the machines from causing more damage, he said.
Bhasker Khulbe, a former adviser to the PMO who’s involved with the Chardham project, conceded there was a change in rescue strategy, adding that “the work on the vertical point will start as soon as possible”.
Dhami had Friday told reports that rescue operations were “in their final stages”.
“PM Modi takes all the updates about the difficulties that workers might face and discusses the solutions. All central and state government agencies are working together for the rescue operation,” Dhami, who has been camping in Malti in Uttarkashi since Thursday, had said reporters. “We hope that soon this operation will be completed and all the workers will come out.”
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NDRF rehearsal with wheeled stretchers
The NDRF conducted a mock drill to bring out the trapped workers Friday during which its personnel practised manoeuvring wheeled stretchers horizontally through an 800-mm imitation passage.
An official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that the team was “fully prepared” for the rescue. But asked why the operation was taking this long, a second personnel said that the agency had yet to begin its work, although it has been present on site “since day one”.
“We will start our work only after other agencies complete theirs,” the second personnel told ThePrint, adding that the NDRF had put in place a plan to evacuate the workers in 10 minutes.
‘Warm temperature inside tunnel gives them strength’
As fear mounts about the safety of the trapped workers, a geologist told ThePrint that the temperature inside the tunnel remains warm despite the cold weather outside, helping them stay safe.
SP Sati, head of the Department of Basic and Social Science at the College of Forestry in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district, told ThePrint that those trapped inside can survive for a long time so long as they stay near a heat source. “That’s why even today, on the 13th day, everyone is fine,” he said.
According to media reports, Sati has been opposing the Chardham project since the start citing possible ecological damage.
Authorities, meanwhile, have been providing the trapped workers access to food and water, with healthcare experts monitoring their health. Abhishek Sharma, a doctor at the site, says workers have “refused medicines”.
“A few days ago the workers had complained of insomnia, stomach ache, and diarrhea, but since cooked food is going inside, their health is improving and they all are safe,” he said.
Asked if any of the workers appeared to be suffering from post-traumatic stress, he said that their real condition can be assessed only after rescue. “However, at the moment, everyone is keeping their morale up. Since there are 41 people inside, they keep encouraging each other and this strength is working for us,” he said.
But for the workers’ families, each passing day brings fresh panic. Rajni’s eyes well up when she talks about her husband Birendra Kishku, who’s among those trapped inside. It’s been three days since Rajni and her brother-in-law Devendra Kiskhu came to Uttarkashi from Bihar’s Banka district.
“As soon as he comes out I will take him home. We’ll earn less, but at least he’ll be safe at home (Char paisa kam kamayenge, lekin surakshit rahenge).”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: Faith & perseverance — glimpses of 10-day rescue ops for 41 workers trapped inside Uttarkashi tunnel