Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand), Nov 24: Former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office, Bhaskar Khulbe, assured on Friday that the rescue operation to evacuate the 41 trapped labourers inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi would resume soon after resolving a technical snag. Khulbe stated that the platform supporting the Augur drilling machine, which had developed cracks on Thursday, has been successfully revamped.
“The situation is much better now. Last night, we had to work on two things. First, we had to revamp the platform of the machine… Parsons Company had done the ground penetration radar, through which we got to know that for the next 5 meters, there is no metallic obstruction. This means that our drilling should be smooth. When we were taking out the debris, we got two mangled pipes…” Khulbe said, adding that the trapped worker may be evacuated by today.
Khulbe further informed reporters that the Heavy Augur machine is now working smoothly. “We have been able to fix the Auger machine strongly on its foundation. There were some obstacles on the mouth of the pipe, which we had to clear after cutting it. This is difficult work; hence it is taking time. I hope that the drilling work will begin again by 11-11.30 am. Ground penetration radar study has shown that there is no metallic obstruction in the next 5 meters,” he added.
Friday marked the 13th day of the rescue operation to evacuate the trapped workers. On November 12, a section of the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot collapsed, trapping 41 labourers inside under debris. The trapped workers are located in a 2 km-built portion that is complete, including concrete work ensuring their safety.
On November 21, the NHIDCL resumed the “horizontal boring operation from the Silkyara end” involving an auger machine overnight. However, on Thursday, images of the auger drilling machine facing obstruction surfaced, causing concerns. The debris hindering the free movement of the rescue pipe was later removed.
Rescuers, utilizing an American Auger machine, resumed drilling on Tuesday, and by late Wednesday night, they had drilled through 45 meters out of the 60-meter stretch of debris blocking the Sikyara side of the under-construction tunnel stretching from Silkyara to Barkot.
