A portion of an under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed early on November 19, trapping around 40 workers inside. Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police launched a search and rescue operation immediately after being informed of the accident.
Rescuers on Tuesday released the first video of the workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel here for 10 days. Till Nov. 20, a four-inch existing tube was being used to supply oxygen and items like dry fruits and medicines into the section of the tunnel beyond the rubble of the collapsed portion.
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.
The Hindu’s photographer Shashi Shekhar Kashyap has been stationed at the location.
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An under construction tunnel collapsed in the district of Uttarkashi on November 20, 2023, trapping 41 workers inside. In an effort to bring the trapped labourers, many methods are being employed.
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Workers work inside the tunnel after a portion of the tunnel collapsed. The tunnel is being constructed under the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), on November 19, 2023.
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A high-performance drilling machine is being brought for the rescue operation. In total, five different approaches to the workers are being explored simultaneously, on top of the auger machine at the southern entrance. Heavy machinery and concrete blocks were being trucked into the site throughout the day, on November 19, 2023.
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New machines near the tunnel. The first machine of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) for the construction of the vertical rescue tunnel has already reached the site and operations are being commenced post completion of access road by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Movement of two other machines for the vertical tunnel construction started from Gujarat and Odisha by road, on November 20, 2023.
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Workers clean extra food bottles that are brought back from the tunnel under rescue operation. The workers are safe and have asked for food, which is being sent to them, the Silkyara police control room said, adding that communication has been established on walkie-talkies. Food packets have been supplied with the help of compressors, it said, on November 20, 2023.
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Pipes, machines and slabs are being brought for the rescue operation. In a first major breakthrough in nine days, agencies working round the clock to rescue the 41 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand have managed to install a six-inch pipe into the 53-metre-long debris on November 20, 2023.
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Prayers are being offered by different pandits next to the tunnel. The government is sending multivitamins, antidepressants and dry fruits to 41 workers trapped for the past seven days in an under-construction tunnel that collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain said, on November 20, 2023.
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Arnold Dix, President , International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, from Australia, inspects the vertical drilling on top of the mountain face below which the under construction tunnel collapsed, on November 20, 2023.
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Wife (Rajni) of a trapped worker (Birender Kisku) from Banka, Bihar, gestures near a temporary police help desk near the Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse site. 41 workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 morning at the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel.
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Workers stand on top of the mountain face below which the under construction tunnel collapsed, on November 20, 2023.
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Workers make road for the vertical drilling on top of the mountain face. Rescue workers at the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi started exploring other ways to reach workers, including from the top of the mountain face through which the tunnel is being constructed, officials announced on Saturday. The longer 170 metre route from the top, running simultaneously with other approaches, may take far longer to bore through than the approximately 60 metres of rubble at the southern entrance, on November 18, 2023.
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NDRF at the spot from where vertical drilling will start on the mountain face. About 160 personnel of agencies such as the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are trying to rescue the trapped labourers, on November 17, 2023.
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A help desk has been installed near the tunnel collapse site, to help the families of the workers trapped inside the under-construction tunnel, on November 19, 2023.