Tunnel collapse: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday (November 22) stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took details about the continued reduction and rescue operation after the under-construction Silkyara tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi, leaving 41 workers trapped. The operation entered its eleventh day in the present day when the situation for the vertical drilling to convey out the workers was recognized. “Drilling has been done up to 39 meters in Silkyara Tunnel. So far the whole operation is going well. All workers can be fired by tonight or tomorrow morning,” officers stated in the present day.
“The location for vertical drilling has been identified. Road work for vertical drilling on the hill above the tunnel is almost complete. More than 350 meters of road construction work is complete. BRO is building a road from both Silkyara and Barkot sides which is almost complete,” Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), Anshu Manish Khulko stated.
Head of Safety, L&T on rescue ops
Nigel, Head of Safety, L&T, expressed hope {that a} breakthrough can be achieved with drilling.
“The current situation is that they are drilling a way…This is going very well…Hopefully, they are going to break through… It looks like it is going to happen… For us, we are providing guidance and support in terms of what they are doing… We are also assisting with the micro-tunneling as well… The job has to be done correctly and in a systematic way…” he stated.
A piling machine that was caught yesterday due to the highway being slim, has now reached the Silkyara tunnel web site.
The rescuers had tried ‘horizontal drilling’ on Tuesday and served trapped workers with veg pulao and mater paneer in dinner.
A complete of 5 agencies– ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL– have been assigned particular tasks to evacuate the 41 labourers trapped for 10 days within the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction construction following a landslide.
Dhami briefs PM Modi
Dhami briefed PM Modi on the progress of the rescue operation.
“Respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone today and took information about the ongoing rescue operations to provide food, medicines and other essential items to the workers trapped in the tunnel under construction in Silkyara, Uttarkashi and to get them out safely,” Dhami posted on X, previously Twitter.
The rescue operation is underway.
(With ANI inputs)
