The first visuals of the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand since November 12 emerged on Tuesday after an endoscopic camera was sent in through the six-inch pipe which was drilled through the debris blocking the tunnel on Monday.
In a video released by the rescue agencies, the workers can be seen standing in a line and identifying themselves as rescue workers issue instructions to them. The trapped men are seen placing their ears on the edge of the pipe to hear what is being told by the rescuers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Workers stand on top of the mountain face below which the under construction tunnel collapsed, on November 20, 2023.
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.
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.
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.
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“Aap theek ho? (Are you fine?)” a rescue team member asks, to which the workers reply to in the affirmative. The workers are then told to show themselves in the camera and smile. They are told that the rescue teams were working to reach them.
The camera is then pulled back up so that water can be released to clean the pipeline.
The rescue teams identified all the trapped workers from the visuals and also shared the same with their family members.
Fruits and other essentials were later sent through the pipe. According to sources, the pipe was temporarily blocked on Tuesday afternoon when the agencies tried to send cooked food. It was cleared in the evening.
The Hindu could not contact Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela for comments.
Meanwhile, horizontal drilling through the debris with an American Auger machine resumed on Tuesday. The operation was suspended on Friday after the machine encountered hard material. The rescue teams plan to insert a 900-mm pipe through the rubble to create an escape passage for the workers. The authorities are planning to place an 800-mm pipe inside the 900-mm one to provide more strength.
A high-performance drilling machine is being brought for rescue operation after a portion of an underconstruction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon collapsed, in Uttarkashi on November 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
In Delhi, National Disaster Management Authority member Lieutenant-General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) said efforts were being made on five fronts to save the workers. He said that two teams of the NDRF were at the site to deal with any contingency.
He maintained that there was no scarcity of oxygen inside the tunnel. “The two-km section of the tunnel, with completed concrete work ensuring the safety of the workers, is the focus of the rescue efforts. In this secured portion of the tunnel, electricity and water supply are operational, and provisions, including food and medicines, are being delivered through a dedicated four-inch compressor pipeline,” he said.
Five agencies — ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL— have been assigned specific responsibilities, working collaboratively with occasional task adjustments for operational efficiency. A five-point action plan has been chalked out for the rescue, including vertical drilling, excavating two escape channels/tunnels on both sides of the tunnel, and digging a tunnel from the other end, the Barkot side.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Workers stand on top of the mountain face below which the under construction tunnel collapsed, on November 20, 2023.
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.
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.
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.
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Anurag Jain, Secretary, Road Transport and Highway Ministry, said that vertical drilling was the “second-best option” for the rescue operation.
A high-performance drilling machine is being brought for rescue operation after a portion of an underconstruction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon collapsed, in Uttarkashi on November 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The 4,532-m-long tunnel was being built by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. in partnership with Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. at a cost of ₹853.79crore. It is part of the Char Dham all-weather road project which aims to reduce the journey between Uttarkashi and Yamunotri town by 26 km.
The tunnel collapsed following a landslide early on November 12, leaving the 41 workers trapped behind a huge mound of debris.
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