• Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: 240 hours on, workers still stuck, work on escape route begins

    National
    Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: 240 hours on, workers still stuck, work on escape route begins

    The backup tunnel will have a diameter of approximately three metres. Eight metres of the rescue tunnel have been built thus far.

    Digital Desk: In order to save the 41 workers who have been stranded in an under-construction tunnel for the past ten days or more than 240 hours, rescue officials in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, have begun building a backup route from the Barkot end.

    The backup tunnel will have a diameter of approximately three metres. Eight metres of the rescue tunnel have been built thus far.

    Two attempts at a drone scan were made at the tunnel site in order to examine the space between the debris and the tunnel's top. However, an impediment prevented it from travelling more than 28 metres over the rubble, and one drone was destroyed.

    There was so much debris in the tunnel that a robot from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was unable to crawl out. The vertical drilling platform's road approach for parallel and vertical drilling is nearly finished.

    In a significant advance in the rescue effort earlier on Monday, a six-inch substitute pipe was able to reach the 41 workers stranded in the tunnel. For the workers who were stranded, officials also brought nourishing food in plastic bottles.

    To suit their dietary requirements, they worked with doctors to create a customised food plan. Fruits like as oranges, bananas, apples, and "dalia" (broken wheat) were sent down the pipe along with khichdi to keep the workers fed during these hard times. Before being transported down the pipe, the khichdi was placed in plastic bottles.

    A phone with a charger will be given, according to officials, to ensure contact. The pipe with a six-inch diameter that was installed yesterday also had debris removed from it last night.

    On Tuesday morning, the first images emerged of the labourers trapped under the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. A six-inch food pipeline alternative was used to send an endoscopic camera inside to take pictures of them.

    In order to determine the interior topography of the tunnel and to count the workers who are stuck, the camera is being utilised. Watching via the pipeline to get food items and conversing with one another, the workers can be seen in the video wearing yellow and white helmets.

    Dhami tweeted that all of the workers were safe following the release of the first images of the trapped workers since the tunnel collapse.



    He said that an endoscopic camera that was put into the pipe allowed the workers and the authorities to communicate. Reiterating his pledge to see that every employee was removed from the tunnel was vital.

    Monday saw the arrival at the location of a multinational team of tunnelling specialists. President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association Arnold Dix was one of the specialists on site to supervise the operation in the tunnel.
    According to Dix, there were a number of difficulties in the rescue effort because they were operating in one of the most dangerous mountain ranges.

    "We are sure that we will get all the 41 workers out safely. The government, Indian Army and agencies are working on the right track," he said.

    The American augur machine is reportedly back up and running. While drilling through the rubble, the machine encountered an obstacle.

    Prem Chand Agarwal, the cabinet minister for Uttarakhand, is scheduled to evaluate the rescue effort when he visits the tunnel site at 1:00 pm.

    According to news agency ANI, sources revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi met late at night to discuss the underground rescue effort in Uttarkashi. On the circumstances, they stated, the Prime Minister was in regular communication with Dhami.