Member of National Disaster Management Authority, Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, on Tuesday said that the main horizontal drilling in Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand is nearing a breakthrough after rat-hole miners, army engineers and members of the technical team drilled through the debris throughout the night. He informed that they worked as if they were machines and drilled 58 metres while the auger pushed the pipe inside.

Lt Gen Hasnain also said that after putting around 400 hours into the operation, it will be very wrong to make premature announcements. Safety precautions will be followed till the very end, he said, adding that the many lives of the rescue team are as important as the 41 lives that are trapped.

The labourers have been stuck inside the under constructed tunnel in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand since 12th November 2023.

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Lt Gen Hasnain also prayed that the evacuation would begin soon and informed that when that begins, the men from the National Disaster Response Force will play a very important role as they will organize the 41 men for the evacuation. The NDRF will be supported by the SDRF team, he said. Further, he informed that the paramedic team will also be sent to the other side of the tunnel.

It is estimated that three to five minutes will be required for one person to be pulled out and therefore the whole evacuation process may take around 3-4 hours, Lt Gen Hasnain added.

Stating that all preparations have been made post evacuation, the NDMA member said that the workers will be kept in a hospital in Uttarakhand where they will be monitored for 48-72 hours.