Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 15: The operations to rescue 40 workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand received setback on Wednesday due to some faulty equipment with the situation further aggravated by landslide at the site.
Renewed efforts are being made with heavier machines airlifted from Delhi but it will be some time before the machines being transported in semi knocked down condition was being brought to the site and re-installed to resume the drilling operations through the rubble.
Officials admitted that the operations continuing for the last three days have been hampered after a landslide at the site and technical issues in a drilling machine being used to create an escape passage. But the good tiding was that the labourers were safe and were still with high spirit after they received supplies of oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water which were being provided to them constantly, officials said.
The colleagues of the trapped labourers, however, staged demonstrations and clashed with the police protesting against the slow pace of progress in rescuing their hapless mates. They also expressed apprehension at the site on the progress of the multi-agency rescue operations. Workers chanted slogans at the mouth of the tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway, shouting that enough efforts were not been made by the authorities promptly to rescue their colleagues trapped inside for over 72 hours now.
With the plan to insert 900 mm mild steel pipes by the drilling machine to enable the trapped workers to crawl out to safety temporarily shelved due to faulty equipment, the authorities were giving shape to plan 2. “Under plan 2, we are first installing a 125 mm pipe for air, food, camera and communication. That pipe is already 12 metres in. Also, a state-of-the-art, American-made horizontal dry drilling equipment with auger is on its way from Delhi on two Hercules C-130 planes. The planes will make a total of three rounds to carry the equipment,” the officials said.
“We are almost certain this plan will work. If not, the final option will be using conventional drilling using the pipe roof umbrella method. Under that, we will build an entire tunnel and it will take five-six days as it goes just around 10 metres a day. However, we are sure it will not come to that and the second plan will work,” he said.
After large excavators could not clear the rubble in the first two days, rescuers had decided to use “trenchless technique” putting together passages made of 900 mm mild steel pipes right through the debris so the men could crawl out.
However, the machine that was brought from Dehradun for this purpose could not drill through the rubble. It was then decided to bring in bigger equipment from Delhi.
The earlier auger machine, provided by Vardhman Engineering Works, was not able to cut through the debris at a high enough speed. A decision was then taken to remove that machine and bring a bigger one.
Rubble from the landslide fell on the collapsed part of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel on Tuesday night, hampering operations as well as injuring two rescue workers. They are being treated at a makeshift hospital, the officials said.
A new platform is being built inside the tunnel for another drilling machine being brought from Delhi. The heavy drilling machine was airlifted from Delhi to replace the “failed” equipment. The new machine, that landed at the Chinyalisaur helipad, over 30 kilometres from the tunnel on the Char Dham route, is being put into service.
The plan was to use an ‘auger machine’ to drill through the rubble of the tunnel’s collapsed portion and insert 800-mm and 900-mm diameter sections of mild steel pipes — one after the other. Once this happens, the workers trapped on the other side of the rubble can crawl out to safety.
But the first drilling machine turned out to be too slow and technical issues developed, the officials said. Also, falling debris inside the tunnel damaged the equipment and injured two rescue workers on Tuesday.
The replacement machine came in two parts on an Indian Air Force Hercules aircraft to Chinyalisaur on Wednesday afternoon and was being transported by road to the tunnel, about two hours away, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi said.
“We will start installing it as soon as it arrives and in four-hours it will begin the drilling operation. With a capacity to penetrate 4-5 metres of rubble per hour, we can expect it to penetrate 50 metres through the rubble in 10 hours,” NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalkho said.
Some experts also questioned the need for constructing new roads and tunnels just to shorten the route for the “Char Dham Yatra.” Pointing out that the workers face several challenges due to the location and the nature of rocks, the experts flagged the need for a serious rethink on how to develop infrastructure in the Himalayan region.
Dr Sudhir Krishna, former secretary of Union Urban Development ministry, said there are multiple challenges in rescuing the workers, who have been trapped for more than 70 hours now. “Himalayan region comprises soft rocks in general. Only in patches, there are hard stable rocks. It’s a difficult situation. There are multiple challenges (in rescue work), landslide is one, land subsidence is the second,” Dr Krishna said. Subsidence is the sinking of the ground due to mining and other underground activities.
The 4.5-km tunnel is being built between Silkyara and Dandalgaon towns would only shorten the distance to Yamunotri from Uttarkashi by 26 kilometres and cut down to the travel time by 50 minutes. “We spend more than 50 minutes daily to travel from our home to office. We have accepted it. We are trying to resolve that, but when you are going to a religious place, why should we try to do it in five minutes? We are not being patient and in the process, the sustainability of the Himalayan region is at stake. I think a serious rethink is required,” Dr Krishna added.
The under-construction tunnel is part of the ambitious Char Dham project, a national highway plan to connect Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The project passes through 529 landslide-prone areas.