A week since 40 workers got trapped inside the collapsed Silkyara tunnel at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, advanced machinery are being brought to the site to aid rescue operations. This follows the decision to drill vertically through the tunnel to create an escape passage.
Footage from the tunnel site shows a heavy machinery being carted in, apparently to control the loose soil. A machine operator told ANI that the machine brought in on Sunday from Rishikesh was to save the tunnel and not for rescue operations.
As the rescue operations continue, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will conduct an on-site inspection of the operations. "Along with the Chief Minister, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is also arriving to take stock of the relief and rescue work," the CMO added in its statement.
The Border Roads Organisations (BRO) road, entrusted to create the alternative route, is expected to finish the work by Sunday afternoon so that the rescue mission, that had been stalled since Friday, could finally resume.
The Union government on Saturday held a high-level meeting to discuss various options to rescue the 41 workers trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarakhand. The centre has entrusted different agencies with specific alternatives to work on. "NHIDCL, ONGC, SJVNL, THDC and RVNL have been assigned one option each. The BRO and the construction wing of the Indian Army have also been assisting in the rescue operation," an official said.
The local administration has also deployed a tree-cutting expert to enable the vertical drilliing process. "A spot right above the tunnel has been identified and marked. A hole will be drilled from there to reach there. The depth of the hole would be approximately 300-350 feet. The horizontal attempt of rescue would also begin from Barkot end of the tunnel," Uttarkashi DFO DP Baluni told ANI.
A micro-tunnelling expert too has arrived at the Silkyara tunnel incident site to monitor and oversee the rescue operation. Chris Cooper s a Chartered Engineer with an experienced track record for delivery of Major International key civil engineering infrastructure, metro tunnels, large caverns, dams, railway, and mining projects.