Strap: Water leakage in the upper part of the tunnel has increased the concerns: Chief Minister
Strap: All the workers are fine, I have talked to the workers.
Uttarkashi, 25 November: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday again took stock of the rescue operation being carried out to rescue workers trapped in the under-construction tunnel in Silkyara. After this he held a meeting with top officials and the High Power Committee involved in the rescue operation.
The Chief Minister said that after the auger machine broke down, a plasma cutting cutter has been ordered from Hyderabad. The broken parts of the auger machine will be removed by tomorrow. Vertical drilling work is also being done. Work will also be done manually.
While talking to the media today, Chief Minister Dhami informed about the rescue operation being carried out for the accident that took place in the under construction tunnel of Silkyara in Uttarkashi.
He told that due to the accident in the under construction tunnel of Silkyara in Uttarkashi, there are hopes of evacuating 41 workers trapped in the tunnel, but in the meantime obstacles are continuously creating obstacles. Now that the blade of the auger machine has been damaged, water leakage in the upper part of the tunnel has increased the concerns.
He told that all the workers are fine. Talked to the workers, they are fine.
He told that the workers are getting food and water. He said that the entire focus is on evacuating the workers.
The Chief Minister said that the work of cutting and taking out the blade of the broken machine inside the Silkyara Tunnel of Uttarkashi is going on, which may take time till tomorrow. After this, instead of machines, only manual work will be done in the tunnel, which will take up to 24 hours. That means the workers will have to wait inside the tunnel for the next two to three days.
Tunnel expert Colonel Parikshit Mehra said that work is being done to take out the broken auger of the auger machine, which may take some time. He told that as soon as the auger is taken out, drilling will be attempted again. However, the officials involved in the rescue operation appeared worried as the auger machine got stuck in the tunnel.
Odisha Labor and Employment Minister Sharda Prasad Nayak will reach Silkyara tomorrow on Sunday to take stock of the ongoing tunnel rescue operation in Silkyara, Uttarkashi and to know the condition of the Orissa workers trapped in the tunnel. Their schedule has been released from the Labor Ministry office of Orissa.
The auger machine knelt before the mountain-
The rescue operation to evacuate 41 workers is going on for the last 14 days in the world’s fourth largest Silkyara Tunnel located in Uttarkashi. Drilling with the American Auger machine was the only major support to get the workers out, but drilling had to be stopped due to pieces of iron getting stuck inside the machine again and again. Last Friday, after drilling about 2 meters, technical problems arose again, which means it will take some more time. Now the rescue operation dragged on for one more night. The best machines from all over the world were installed in it, yet the machines surrendered in front of the mountain, but the teams engaged in the rescue operation did not surrender.
It is noteworthy that a part of the under-construction tunnel from Se-Silakyara, located about 55 kilometers from Uttarkashi district headquarters, had collapsed on November 12. Since then, rescue teams are continuously working on war footing to rescue the workers.
First of all, the oxygen pipe was inserted inside the tunnel under construction. There was no success in the initial phase of the rescue operation, so American auger drilling machine was called for. What it means to say is that the same problem as a mountain is coming to the fore and the auger drilling machine has surrendered in front of this mountain. Sources say that now preparations are also going on to remove 9-10 meters of debris inside the tunnel i.e. from where the workers are trapped.
In this, Chief Minister Dhami, many Union Ministers and Prime Minister Modi and the entire staff are keeping an eye on the rescue operation.
International tunneling expert Arnold Dix said, forget the auger machine?
Arnold Dix, the international tunneling expert on the Silkyra Tunnel rescue operation, said that there was an American auger machine in the country and this auger (machine) was broken. This is irreparable loss, but there are many options for getting workers out. This is not the only way… As of now, everything is fine… That means this auger machine will not do any other work. There is no other new auger machine in the country.
According to the new developments in the rescue operation, the blades of the auger machine were broken on Friday and now efforts are being made to take out the blades. The first attempt is to re-equip the auger machine and insert a pipe into the remaining tunnel, but even after several attempts, the team engaged in the rescue operation has not been successful. O
nce again efforts are being made to prepare the machine. At present, drilling has come to a halt since yesterday and now work is being done on a plan to do vertical drilling up to 88 meters below. Preparations are underway to take the machine to the top. Even in vertical excavation, if everything goes well, it may take four to five days.
Chief Minister took the meeting of High Power Committee-
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took a meeting of the High Power Committee with all the agencies doing rescue in the Silkyara tunnel accident. Many senior top officials are also present in it. Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu also came from Dehradun for this
meeting.
In this, further strategy will be made regarding the rescue plan. Quoting sources, it has also been learned that the government can take the help of the Army in the rescue work. Along with vertical, horizontal excavation has also been decided in the meeting. RVNL is being entrusted with the responsibility of horizontal drilling and will build a 172 meter long tunnel.
On the other hand, the workers gave a message from inside that they would dig out themselves. The morale of the workers is high, but their desperation to come out is definitely increasing.
CM Dhami said, the Prime Minister is taking information every day about the welfare of workers and relief works.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has written on his social media’s Twitter handle that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very sensitive about the workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel of Uttarkashi. Prime Minister Modi is taking detailed information every day about the well-being of the workers and the ongoing relief and rescue operations in the tunnel.
Central agencies, state administration and teams of international experts are working on all options, we will soon be successful in evacuating the labor brothers safely.
Various agencies of the Center and the State are working day and night for the rescue of the under construction tunnel of Silkyara in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, but these agencies have not been successful in evacuating the workers even after 14 days. The reason for this is sometimes due to technical fault in the auger machine during drilling and sometimes due to tunnel bars, rods and debris coming in the way of the machine.
Due to this, workers are being thrown out for the last three days, today and tomorrow. Now the question is, when will all the workers come out of the tunnel safely?
