Uttarakhand tunnel accident; The last stage is also blocked and the rescue mission is delayed

Drilling stopped again

Uttarkashi: The mission to rescue 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand is getting delayed due to unexpected obstacles at the last stage. Drilling had not resumed as of last night. It has been 13 days since the workers were trapped.

It is reported that the auger machine that did the drilling was moved out of the tunnel yesterday. Experts are also checking whether the debris can be removed without mechanical help.

Thursday’s mission was halted after the 25-tonne concrete platform anchored by the auger machine collapsed and the drilled iron pipe crashed into the iron frame. When the tunnel collapsed, the machine hit an iron frame that hit the ground. The damage to the platform was repaired and the machine fixed. The experts penetrated through the rescue pipe and removed the obstruction by cutting the iron frame with a gas cutter. The impact of the impact damaged the drilling blade of the auger machine. Unplugged it and fixed the problem. Drilling resumed on Thursday afternoon but was halted again due to minor tremors. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government officially announced yesterday that the drilled iron pipe bent and the auger machine was damaged again. About two meters of bent pipe had to be cut into small pieces. The remains can be reached only after drilling about 10 meters further. There has been little progress in the mission since Thursday.

But the ground penetration radar test revealed that there are no obstacles in the next five meters, officials said.

If drilling resumes, two or three more iron pipes will have to be drilled. Colonel Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the mission, said that if there were no new obstacles, the drilling would be completed in six to seven hours, including welding the pipes.

Meanwhile, the disaster management personnel completed the rehearsal of pulling the workers out through the rescue tube on a wheeled stretcher.

Union Minister V. K. Singh reached the spot yesterday. He entered the tunnel and assessed the rescue operations.