Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 14: Substantial progress is claimed to have been made in the concerted efforts to rescue the 40 workers in the collapsed under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand who have remained trapped for more than 48 hours.
The rescue teams, who have been working nonstop since the collapse on early Sunday morning, have made some headway in cutting down the rocks that fell over a 200-meter area, trapping the workers inside the tunnel.
Rescuers are trying to create an escape passage to reach the trapped workers and the distance is about 40 metres. Officials said around 21 metres of slab blocking the tunnel has been removed and a 19 metres passage is yet to be cleared.
“Rescuers at the collapse site in Uttarkashi on Tuesday initiated the process of inserting large-diametre mild steel pipes through the rubble using an auger machine to rescue the trapped workers,” officials said. “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,” they said.
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 diametre of 900 mm.
The rescue teams are planning to push the 900 mm diameter pipes, wide enough for the trapped men to squeeze through, by boring a hole into the heap of debris. “A platform is being prepared for an auger machine to drill horizontally and push the pipes through the debris and evacuate the workers,” officials said.
All the material and machinery needed for the daring operation has been brought to the site. Experts from the irrigation department have also joined the operation. Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said authorities have set a target of rescuing the trapped labourers by Tuesday night or Wednesday. The officials said 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.
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, the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Executive Director Col (retd.) Sandip Sudehra said. 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 stationed to provide immediate medical care to the trapped workers after their evacuation.
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.
Videos from the spot showed huge piles of concrete blocking the tunnel, twisted metal bars from its broken roof buried in rubble creating more obstacles for rescue workers. The workers – who have been trapped in a buffer zone – are unharmed and are being supplied with food and oxygen through water pipelines. “They have a buffer of around 400 metres to walk and breathe,” a Disaster response official said.
The rescue teams have successfully established communication with the workers with Walkie-Talkies. Initial contact was made via a note on a scrap of paper, but later rescuers managed to connect using radio handsets.
The 4.5-km tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway, which will join Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi, is part of the Char dham project. Once finished, it is expected to cut down the distance by 26 km.
The home states of the trapped labourers are also in touch with the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to get updates on rescue operations. The family of 40-year-old Raju Nayak from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj keep checking their phones for updates since he with other workers got trapped in the collapsed tunnel.
“We know that all efforts are being made by the administration for the safe rescue of all the workers. I know my son – he is brave and a fighter. He will come back. We all are praying for the safe return of all the workers,” said Muchiram Nayak, Raju’s father.
Raju went to work on the tunnel in June, leaving with two others from Mayurbhanj. The Odisha government has said it’s in touch with the Uttarakhand government and NHAI authorities for the safe return of workers from the state.
The Jharkhand government on Monday sent a three-member team to provide assistance to assist in the rescue operations.
The team comprises one IAS officer, Bhuvanesh Pratap Singh, and two joint secretaries from the state’s labour department. The officers will start giving regular updates to the migrant control room Tuesday onwards. Family members of some of those trapped have been making inquiries at Jharkhand’s migrant control room regarding the incident, sources said.
The chief ministers of both Jharkhand and Odisha have taken to social media to express their hope for the speedy rescue of the workers. The Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami about the rescue operations. “…Thankfully all the workers are unharmed and the Uttarakhand government is taking all measures for relief, rescue and safe evacuation. Praying for everyone’s safety and well-being,” Pradhan wrote on X.