Drilling started to make ‘escape tunnel’ from pipes in Uttarkashi tunnel, what is the condition of the workers?

Uttarkashi. Rescue workers on Tuesday began the process of inserting large diameter ‘mild steel’ pipes into the debris to rescue 40 workers trapped inside it for the last two days following the collapse of a portion of the Silkyara-Dandalgaon tunnel on the Yamunotri National Highway. Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela, who is monitoring the rescue and relief operations, said that the agar machine and 900 mm diameter pipes were rushed to the spot in the morning and ‘drilling’ (excavation) has been started in the tunnel.

Quoting technical experts, he said, ‘If everything goes as per plan, all the workers will be evacuated safely by Wednesday.’ It took almost a whole day to build the platform to install the agar machine for ‘drilling’ in the debris. Officials said that now the process of laying pipes across the debris will begin. To start the process of laying the pipe, a team of technical experts and engineers is present at the spot which is led by Deepak Malik, General Manager of Uttarakhand Drinking Water Corporation and an expert in drilling and boring.

All workers will be evacuated safely by Wednesday
He told that according to the plan, an ‘escape tunnel’ will be made by laying pipes through horizontal ‘drilling’, through which the workers will be taken out. Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha had earlier said that all the workers would be evacuated safely by Tuesday night or Wednesday. On the other hand, all the workers trapped in the tunnel are said to be safe, to whom oxygen, water, dry fruits and other food items, electricity, medicines etc. are being continuously supplied through pipes.

All 40 workers trapped in tunnel safe
Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi told reporters after inspecting the spot, ‘As per the updated situation so far, all the 40 workers trapped in the tunnel are safe.’ He told that a worker is suffering from vomiting, hence medicines have also been supplied to him. Meanwhile, his son Akash talked to Gabbar Singh Negi, one of the workers trapped inside, through a pipe, which brought relief to him as well as the families of other workers.

‘We are all safe with the company,’ the worker said to his son through the pipe.
Negi’s son Akash, a resident of Bishanpur near Kotdwar, told PTI, ‘I was allowed to talk to my father for a few seconds through the pipe through which oxygen is being sent to the workers trapped in the tunnel. ‘ When asked what his father talked to him, Akash said, ‘He told that they are all safe. He told us not to worry and told us that the company is with him. On Sunday morning, after receiving information that his father was trapped along with other workers due to the collapse of a part of the tunnel, Akash reached the spot from Kotdwar along with his uncle Maharaj Singh Negi and three other people. A local priest also conducted a puja on the spot for the safety of the stranded workers.

Rescue and relief operations are being carried out on war footing
A part of the tunnel under construction under the Chardham ‘All Weather’ road project collapsed due to a landslide on Sunday and workers are trapped inside it since then. To rescue them, rescue and relief operations are being carried out on a war footing. A team of 160 rescue personnel from National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Border Roads Organization is engaged in rescue operations day and night. GL Nath, an officer of Navyuga Engineering Company Limited, which is constructing the tunnel, has appealed to the people not to go inside the tunnel and not to hinder the rescue operations.

Local political leaders are causing a lot of trouble by repeatedly coming into the tunnel.
He said, ‘Only those people whose services or help are required for rescue operations should enter the tunnel. Local political leaders are troubling us by coming into the tunnel again and again. I appeal to them not to do this. Our priority is to get the trapped workers out safely soon. Colonel (retd) Sandeep Sudehra, Executive Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), said that the rescue workers established contact with the workers trapped inside the tunnel through pipes and assured them that various agencies would work within the day to rescue them. Working at night. He said that this has boosted the morale of the workers.

A six-bed temporary hospital is ready near the tunnel.
Uttarkashi’s Chief Medical Officer RCS Panwar said that a six-bed temporary hospital has been prepared near the tunnel. He said that apart from this, medical teams along with 10 ambulances are also deployed at the spot so that the workers can be given immediate medical help once they are evacuated. The committee formed by the Uttarakhand government to study and investigate the causes of the landslide in the tunnel started its work on Tuesday.

Expert committee surveyed the tunnel and the hill above it
A six-member expert committee formed under the chairmanship of Dr. Shantanu Sarkar, Director of Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Centre, surveyed the tunnel and the hill above it. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is continuously taking information from the officials about the workers trapped in the tunnel and the action being taken to get them out. He held a meeting in this regard with senior officials at his residence and instructed them to maintain constant coordination with the district administration officials deployed on the spot and the agencies working there. He said that in case of any need including relief material, help should be provided immediately on the spot.

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Tags: Chardham Yatra, Government of Uttarakhand, Uttarakhand landslide, Uttarkashi Latest News, Uttarkashi News