Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue Operation - Vertical Drilling Begins
Manual drilling is expected to resume on sunday in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, where 41 workers have been trapped for the past 15 days. The rescue crews are manually cutting down the auger machine's blades, which were broken while drilling through the rubble on Friday. This procedure is expected to be finished today. Authorities have began vertical digging on the mountaintop above the Silkyara tunnel to provide a another path for rescuing the trapped miners.
The Silkyara tunnel's horizontal drilling into the debris was halted for virtually the whole day on Friday. However, the severity of the situation was revealed on saturday when worldwide tunnelling specialist Arnold Dix told reporters that the auger machine was "busted." Once the auger machine is removed from the escape pipe, rescue personnel will begin hand digging for around 10 metres.
Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) remarked during a press conference that the operation "could take a long time." Individual workers would enter the previously bored 47-metre portion of the rescue path, drill for a limited while in the restricted area, and then exit to allow someone else to take over.
The Silkyara tunnel's horizontal drilling into the debris was halted for virtually the whole day on Friday. However, the severity of the situation was revealed on saturday when worldwide tunnelling specialist Arnold Dix told reporters that the auger machine was "busted." Once the auger machine is removed from the escape pipe, rescue personnel will begin hand digging for around 10 metres.
Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) remarked during a press conference that the operation "could take a long time." Individual workers would enter the previously bored 47-metre portion of the rescue path, drill for a limited while in the restricted area, and then exit to allow someone else to take over.