DEHRADUN: Rescuers released the first video of the 41 labourers trapped in the Silkiyara tunnel
in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Tuesday. They were captured using an endoscopic camera sent in through the alternative 6-inch food pipeline which was pushed through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel on Monday
The rescue operations entered the 10th day today.
In the video, the workers, wearing yellow and white helmets, are seen receiving food items sent to them through the pipeline and talking to each other.
This comes as a big relief to the families of these workers.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Director Anshu Manish Khalkho had earlier said that cameras would be inserted through the pipeline to see how the workers were doing.
The camera was sent in after it came from Delhi late on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, an expert team of Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), which evacuated labourers from the tunnel of the Kiratpur-Narchok-Manali four-lane highway in Himachal Pradesh, has reached Silkiyara. Team officials claim, "Within two to three days of the machine setup, about 90 meters of drilling will be done to bring the labourers out safely".
Col Deepak Patil, in charge of rescue operations at the Silkiyara tunnel, told this newspaper, "Drilling work has started in the tunnel from the Badkot end as well. For this, a team of eight people from THDC has arrived. A tunnel of two to two and a half meters in diameter will be prepared from here".
State govt to bear travel expenses of kin of workers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday once again enquired about the well-being of the stranded labourers over the phone from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, and assured all possible help.
The Uttarakhand government will bear the travel, food and lodging expenses of relatives of the trapped 41 workers.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said the state government will bear the expenses of people who want to visit Silkyara to enquire about their well-being, he said.
Psychiatrists have been roped in to maintain the morale of the trapped workers, he added.
From Tuesday, the Auger machine will start working fast again.
The Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya on Monday said if there was an exit tunnel in the Silkyara tunnel, the 41 labourers trapped inside would have been evacuated by now and demanded a CBI probe into the factors that led to the unfortunate incident.
Background
The labourers have been trapped since last Sunday at the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel.
The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government.
Rescue operations are being carried out on a war footing since portions of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris.
Until Monday, a four-inch existing tube was being used to supply oxygen and items like dry fruit and medicines into the section of the tunnel beyond the rubble of the collapsed portion of the tunnel.
In 2015, two labourers were trapped in a tunnel on the Kiratpur-Manali highway after an accident.
SJVNL GM Jaswant Kapoor said, "Two labourers were trapped in that accident, to save them, SJVNL had installed a drill machine on top of the tunnel, so that after drilling for about 47 meters, they reached the labourers."
(With inputs from PTI)
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