Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], November 22 (ANI): As Wednesday marked day 11 of the operation to rescue 41 staff trapped contained in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, the officers are ‘hopeful’ to rescue the victims on the earliest.
The collapse occurred on November 12 in the course of the development of the tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot, and the particles that fell in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara aspect of the tunnel trapped 41 staff.
A National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) official mentioned that on November 12, the tunnel caved in and that the opposite Barkot aspect of the tunnel was already closed, as work on that aspect had not but began.
Sunita Hembram, the member of the family of a trapped employee, whereas talking to ANI mentioned that she had a dialog together with her brother-in-law who’s trapped within the tunnel and knowledgeable her about his well-being.
“I had a conversation with my brother-in-law who is trapped here. He is stable and healthy. The workers have received food, clothes and other items. Hopefully, they will be rescued by the morning tomorrow. The doctors also had a conversation with the trapped workers…” Sunita mentioned.
Meanwhile, Additional Secretary Technical, Road and Transport Mahmood Ahmed mentioned that the ‘large news’ is predicted to be acquired tonight or tomorrow morning.
“If there are no obstacles, some big news may be received tonight or tomorrow morning. An iron rod has also come along with the debris. It is a matter of happiness that this iron in the middle of laying the pipeline did not create any problems for us…” Ahmed mentioned.
He additionally mentioned that an extra 800 mm pipe has additionally been pushed 21 metres contained in the tunnel”An additional 800 mm pipe has also been pushed 21 metres inside the tunnel. Around 12:45 am, we started drilling through the auger machine and so far, we have pushed three more pipes…As long as we reach 45-50 metres inside the tunnel, we will not be able to give you the exact time. We are also doing horizontal drilling, we have entered around 8 metres from there as well…” the official advised the reporters.
LT Safety Head, Nigel Wirtz mentioned, “The current situation is that they are drilling a way….Hopefully, they are going to break through… It looks like it is going to happen…..We are also assisting with the micro-tunneling as well… The job has to be done correctly and in a systematic way.”National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Second in Command Ravi S Badhani advised ANI that the rescuers are “very close” to the victims.
“The rescue operation is going really well. A good horizontal drill is happening… According to my knowledge, we are very close to victims now… It’s difficult to give a time frame, but it’s time-consuming… The situation of the trapped worker is fine. They were given the morning breakfast. Communication is well established. They are talking nicely to their family members. Their morale is high…” he mentioned.
Former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office, Bhaskar Khulbe and Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela arrived on the Silkyara Tunnel website earlier within the day.
Vivek Srivastava, Commander 36 BRO mentioned that the work on Barkot finish will start at present.
“The machinery has reached the site at the Silkyara end and the drilling has started there…The work on Barkot end will begin today,” he mentioned.
Earlier within the morning, Major Naman Narula of BRO advised ANI that the highway development work on the hill from the higher a part of the tunnel to the marked place on the tunnel the place the drilling work might be carried out has been accomplished.
“Around 1,200 metres of road has been constructed. Two drilling machine vehicles have also reached the tunnel site. We have constructed the track within 48 hours…” Major Narula mentioned.
He additional mentioned that on the finish of the observe, two vertical drills are but to be carried out.
“Our task was to give an access road for vertical drilling which was at the Silkyara end of the tunnel wherein a track of 1150 m was to be created which we did and hand it over on November 20… At the end of the track, two vertical drills are to be done, and one machinery has reached the site out of two…Our second task was to give an access road towards Barkot which is the other end of the tunnel so the survey for that ended yesterday and the machinery has reached the ground today…” he added.
When the rescuers continued their operation on the eleventh day, individuals supplied prayers at a temple that had been constructed on the important entrance of the tunnel.
On Tuesday, rescuers tried ‘horizontal drilling’ and fed trapped staff with stable cooked meals concurrently.
A complete of 5 agencies–Oil and Natual Gas Corporation (ONGC), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National HighwaysInfrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDCL)– have been assigned particular duties to evacuate the 41 labourers who’ve been trapped within the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction construction.
As many as 4 ambulances have been dropped at the location of the tunnel collapse after the request was made for 40 ambulances.
The remaining ambulances are to be introduced quickly from Dehradun.
“At present four ambulances are present at the site and around 35 ambulances have been sent to the site from different districts. Due to lack of parking facility here, they will be parked at some distance and will be called to the site after being alerted four hours in advance,” Naveen, the driving force of one of many ambulances mentioned. (ANI)