DEHRADUN: The process of drilling a horizontal hole across an estimated 30 metres of landslide rubble that has been blocking the exit of 40 workers at an under-construction tunnel since the past three days, began on Tuesday evening in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi area.
Steel pipes 3 ft wide and 6 metres long are to be pushed through the horizontal hole to rescue the trapped workers on the Silkyara side of the tunnel. Eight such pipes are already at the site. Placed end to end, they would have a total length of 48 metres, more than sufficient to accomplish the task. Besides, five pipes 2.7 ft wide have also been brought in. The drilling is being done by an auger machine for which a platform was laid earlier in the day.
“During the drilling, a huge amount of debris came out from the back side. To prevent it, a sand bag wall has been built,” Dharasu Police Circle Officer Prashant Kumar told this newspaper. Work was temporarily disrupted due to a fresh landslide. Sources said the trapped labourers may have to wait till Wednesday evening for their evacuation. The labourers sent a hand-written note through a pipe saying, “They may be short of food but not oxygen.”
Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi said, “To provide medicare to the evacuees, medical teams have been deployed at the tunnel gate with specialist equipment and ambulance.” Besides, a temporary helipad has been constructed about 0.5 km away from the tunnel’s mouth at Silkyara. Col Deepak Patil, who was the general manager of the tunnel project for the last five years, but was transferred to Jaipur last week, was recalled and flown to the accident spot on Tuesday morning.
Hole matter
The pipes (pic) that will be inserted in the rubble to rescue the labourers
Over 155 NDRF, SDRF, ITBP and BRO officials deployed at the site
A six-bed temporary hospital set up and 10 ambulances with medical teams put on standby