Uttarkashi tunnel collapse | New drill machine off to a slow start; no definite timeline yet for rescue

Equipment flown in from New Delhi has not attained the expected pace in drilling through rubble in an attempt to rescue 40 trapped workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarkashi

Rescue and relief operations under way in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on November 16, 2023 after a portion of a tunnel under construction between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed. | Photo Credit: PTI

Efforts to rescue 40 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand resumed on Thursday, as authorities proceeded with a plan to drill through rubble and insert a series of pipes through which the labourers could crawl out. The workers have been stuck under the rubble on a 2-km stretch since 5.30 a.m. on Sunday, and they are being supplied oxygen and food using narrow tubes.

A previous attempt to drill was called off as a smaller auger machine encountered falling debris, creating further obstructions and damaging the equipment. The new U.S.-made auger machine, flown to Uttarkashi from New Delhi by an Indian Air Force aircraft in three parts and assembled at the site, weighs 25 tonnes. Officials hoped it would be able to let them insert five metres of pipe each hour, but on Thursday, though, that pace could not be attained.

“While we hoped that five metres would be laid each hour, we have so far managed to lay one pipe and a half so far,” Anshu Manish Khalkho, Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., told presspersons in the evening. Mr. Khalkho said it was important in the early stages to get the pipe segments aligned so that the welding did not break as the growing structure was embedded further into the rubble inside the tunnel.

Union Minister V. K. Singh reviews rescue operation at Uttarkashi Tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi district on November 16, 2023. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

Around 50 metres of rubble stands between rescue crews and the trapped workers, with whom officials have been communicating using walkie-talkies. Mr. Khalkho refused to estimate when the work would be complete and the workers rescued.

There are still uncertainties around whether the drill will encounter falling rubble or stubborn rocks. He said an additional auger machine was being brought in as a back-up.

The portion of the tunnel, to connect Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand as part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project, collapsed in a landslip on Sunday. The Uttarakhand government has decided to review all under-construction tunnels in the State, Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami said.

(With inputs from PTI)