Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], November 25 (ANI): The Border Roads Organization workforce personnel have been instructed to move machines to allow vertical drilling on the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi by way of the highway they just lately constructed to entry the highest of the hill, officers stated on Saturday.
“Soon, a joint meeting of all the departments concerned will be held and decision will be taken on when work on the vertical drilling will commence,” stated the official.
Officials are exploring the choice of vertical drilling too because the heavy obligation auger machine that was used within the horoizontal drilling by way of the mouth of the tunnel from the Silyara aspect hit an impediment on Friday night.
A remaining determination on the vertical drilling choice is more likely to be taken by Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
Expert engineers referred to as in on the web site are prepared to start out the drilling work on the tunnel as quickly because the order is obtained.
Officials earlier at this time stated that guide drilling will start quickly to chop by way of the rubble that separates rescuers from the 41 trapped staff within the collapsed portion of the Silkyara tunnel.
According to officers, guide drillers will get to work as soon as the US-made, heavy-duty Auger drilling machine is faraway from the pipeline by way of which the trapped staff are to be introduced out.
Manual drillers will work to chop by way of the remaining rubble that separates the rescuers from the employees and allow the insertion of the pipeline by way of the additional few metres which are but to be lined.
The ongoing operation to rescue staff, who had been trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed on November 12, entered its 14th day on Saturday.
Success may quickly be achieved in taking the Auger driller out of the pipeline, officers knowledgeable additional, including that the heavy-duty drillers may now be moved again by 22 metres.
Speaking to ANI, a senior official concerned with the rescue operation stated guide drilling may begin quickly.
He added that the remaining particles, extending roughly as much as 6 to 9 metres, which stands between the rescuers and the trapped staff, might be eliminated by way of guide drilling.
Elaborating on the explanation why the officers concerned within the rescue operation have determined to take away the Auger from the pipeline, the senior official instructed ANI, “While drilling with the US-made Auger machine, if we hit an obstruction every two to three feet, we have to remove it. And, every time we hit an obstruction, we have to roll Auger back 50 metres (up to which the pipeline has been laid). After running repairs, the machine has to be pushed back up to 50 metres, which takes about 5 to 7 hours. This is the reason why the rescue operation is taking longer than it should.””The rescue team has now decided that the pipeline will now be extended further through manual drilling over small distances. Even if we hit an obstruction further up, the issue could be resolved manually and the pipeline could be extended further without losing out on precious time,” the official added.
He knowledgeable additional that after drilling as much as an extra 5 metres, the rescuers will attain the ultimate few metres that separate them from the trapped staff.
However, the officers avoided quoting a timeframe inside which the rescue mission could possibly be accomplished, saying that they had been hopeful of a optimistic end result as soon as the guide drilling begins on Saturday.
Earlier, a workforce of consultants, who got here to conduct a survey on the tunnel web site, knowledgeable that there have been no heavy objects as much as 5 metres contained in the tunnel.
The workforce from Parsan Overseas Pvt Ltd Delhi used the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method to look at the rescue tunnel.
Ground Penetrating Radar, often known as GPR, Georadar, Subsurface Interface Radar, or Geo-probing Radar, is a very non-destructive method to provide a cross-section profile of the subsurface with none drilling, trenching or floor disturbances.GPR profiles are used for evaluating the placement and depth of buried objects and to analyze the presence and continuity of pure subsurface circumstances and options.
After inspecting the rescue tunnel, geophysicist and GPR survey workforce member B Chendhoor stated they had been referred to as to the scene after the Auger driller hit an obstruction.
After a portion of the tunnel caved in on November 12, the particles falling within the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara aspect of the tunnel trapped 41 labourers inside.
The staff are trapped in a 2 km-built portion, which is full, together with concrete work, which offers them security. (ANI)