Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, Member, National Disaster Management Authority has on Monday informed that the manual drilling at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand to rescue the 41 workers may begin tonight. He said that the team of army engineers, rat miners and technical personnel will be sent into the tunnel to drill the rest of the debris which is around 15 metres.

Vishal Chauhan, Member, National Highways Authority of India also said at the media conference in New Delhi that there will be a team of six members who will work in groups of three at a time.

Stating that the manual drilling will be slower, the NDMA member also informed that the vertical drilling being done by SJVNL has completed 30-32 metres since it began on Sunday evening. Around 86 metres need to be drilled from the top of the tunnel.

Another vertical probe of around 6-8 inches is being done next to it, which has reached around 76 metres without any problem and it will be the third lifeline, he said. THDC has initiated construction of a rescue tunnel from the Barkot end, the other end of the tunnel and they performed the sixth blast on Monday, it was further informed. A perpendicular drilling will also be started by RVNL, Lt Gen Hasnain informed.

He also mentioned that there was a yellow warning for light rain in the area in the next 24 hours but assured that the rain will not hamper the rescue operation.

Regarding the condition of the 41 workers, he said at the media conference that food, drinks, medicines and all the requirements for sustenance were reaching them and that they were communicating with the families more frequently.

Lt Gen Hasnain reassured that the workers will be re-united with their families. The labourers have been trapped inside the Uttarakhand tunnel for 15 days.

In an all government approach, various Central and State agencies have been mobilized and assigned specific responsibilities, working collaboratively with occasional task adjustments for operational efficiency.