Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Rescuers to drill through rubble; probe panel formed

The Uttarakhand government has formed a six-member expert committee to investigate the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse even as rescuers started the process of inserting large-diameter mild steel pipes through the rubble using an auger machine to rescue the 40 workers trapped for two days now.

The pipes will be pushed in using the horizontal drilling equipment to create an escape passage for the workers, who are safe and are being provided with oxygen, water and light food items such as dry fruits, officials said on Tuesday (November 14).

Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said authorities have set a target of rescuing the trapped labourers by Tuesday night or Wednesday. They said that the mild steel (MS) pipes and the auger machine arrived at the spot in the early hours of Tuesday.

A platform is being prepared for the auger drilling machine, the officials said, adding that the MS pipes have a diameter of 900 mm.

Contact is being maintained with the trapped labourers and the assurance that a huge rescue operation is being carried out by various agencies to evacuate them has also boosted their morale, NHIDCL Executive Director Col (retd.) Sandip Sudehra said.

Meanwhile, a three-member team of Jharkhand government officials have left for Uttarakhand to help with the rescue of workers.

Three government officials, including JAP-IT (Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology) CEO Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh, and joint labour commissioners Rajesh Prasad and Robert Lakra, left for Uttarakhand on Monday on the direction of Chief Minister Hemant Soren to provide immediate relief and help in the rescue of workers hailing from the eastern state, an official statement said.

The chief minister has wished for the speedy recovery of all the workers trapped in the tunnel. According to a list of the trapped workers issued by the District Emergency Operation Centre, 15 are from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five from Orissa, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam, and one from Himachal Pradesh.

They got trapped when a part of the tunnel being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway caved in on Sunday morning following a landslide. The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is the agency engaged in building the tunnel.

Uttarkashi’s Chief Medical Officer RCS Panwar said a six-bed temporary hospital has been set up near the tunnel and 10 ambulances with medical teams have been stationed to provide immediate medical care to the trapped workers after their evacuation.