Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 18: With the operation to rescue the workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel halted since Friday evening as the American auger machine also developing some snag, the voices of the hapless trapped workers are gradually becoming feeble in communicating with their relatives waiting outside the collapsed tunnel with bated breath.
The number of trapped workers was revised upward to 41 on Saturday with the authorities realising that one Deepak Kumar from Muzzafarpur district in Bihar is also among the trapped workers. Drilling was stopped on Friday evening after officials heard a sudden “cracking sound” from the machine. Another high-performance drilling machine airlifted from Indore in Madhya Pradesh arrived in Silkyara on Saturday where its three parts will be assembled before it is deployed for drilling, officials on the spot said.
The 41 workers have been stuck since Sunday morning after a portion of the tunnel caved in. Officials said that all workers are safe and are being supplied food and water through steel pipes that have been drilled into the opening.
Families of the trapped workers have arrived at the accident site and are losing hope. Brother of one of the workers said the workers need to be rescued quickly before their health deteriorates. Doctors have also emphasised the need for comprehensive rehabilitation for the trapped workers, fearing that the prolonged confinement may necessitate both mental and physical recovery processes.
A team of officials from the Centre including Additional Secretary, MoRTH Mahmood Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, PMO, Mangesh Ghildiyal, Varun Adhikari, Geologist Engg, and engineering expert Armando Capellan have arrived in Silkyara to do an on-the-spot review of the rescue operations.
By the time the operation was halted on Friday, the heavy-duty auger machine had drilled up to 24 metres through the rubble spread over a 60-metre area inside the tunnel. Around 2.45 p.m. on Nov. 17, during the positioning of the fifth pipe, a loud cracking sound was heard in the tunnel after which the rescue operation was suspended, a statement issued by the NHIDCL late on Nov. 17 night said.
The sound created panic in the rescue team. The pipe-pushing activity was stopped after an expert involved with the project warned about the possibility of further collapse in the vicinity. The tunnel is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the central government being constructed under the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited.
But with the rescue operations at the tunnel entering seventh day with no light still seen at the end of the tunnel, the families of the stranded labourers are getting desperate. People who have come to Silkyara from different parts of the country waiting for the safe evacuation of their kin raised their concerns about their well-being saying their voices sounded feeble when they talked to them on Saturday.
“All we are getting is assurances from the authorities that the trapped labourers will be rescued. It is nearly a week since they got trapped,” a teary-eyed Haridwar Sharma whose younger brother Sushil Sharma is among the trapped workers said. Mr Haridwar Sharma, who has come from Rohtas district of Bihar, said the health condition of the stuck labourers is worsening.
Maharaj Singh Negi from Kotdwar whose brother Gabbar Singh is among the trapped labourers said he was losing patience and hope with every hour. “I could not talk to my brother. He sounded very weak. He was hardly audible. The rescue work in the tunnel has come to a halt. Those trapped are also short of food and water. We have come to the end of our patience. What more can I say?” he said.
Pushkar, a 25-year-old construction worker, trapped in the tunnel urged his brother Vikram Singh to not tell their mother that he was stuck. “Don’t tell Ma that I am one of those stuck here. Mother will be worried if you tell her the truth,” Pushkar told Vikram as they spoke on the radio.
The family members are waiting outside, praying for a breakthrough — anxious. The Uttarakhand government decided to provide accommodation, food and health facilities to the family members waiting outside the Silkyara Tunnel. The trapped workers are surviving on light edibles like chana, kheer and badam sent to them through a pipe.
With an estimated 36 metres still to go when the machine developed snag after drilling 24 metres, the US-made auger machine had to be paused every now and then when it was working because of fumes and vibrations. The auger machine replaced the earlier drilling machine which had limited capacity. Another drilling machine has been airlifted from Indore after the auger machine work has been halted.