Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain has said that more patience as work inside the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand has once again been halted. Speaking at the press conference at the National Media Centre in New Delhi, Lt Gen Hasnain informed that a part of the auger drilling machine had broken and was stuck in the debris.
A massive operation is in progress in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district where 41 workers have been trapped inside an under-constructed tunnel since 12th November 2023 after a part of the tunnel collapsed, blocking their way out by 60 metres.
In the press conference on Saturday, the officials informed that 47 metres had already been drilled and that once the broken piece of the auger machine is cut and taken out, rescue workers will have to drill the passage manually and the auger will be used to push the remaining pipes through which the 41 workers are expected to be evacuated.
Lt Gen Hasnain also repeated that timelines must not be set because it puts the workforce in pressure who are part of the dangerous operation. On Friday, he had stated that the plan is to take up the rest of the mission very deliberately and very carefully.
Informing of the alternative ways of evacuating the labourers from the Uttarakhand tunnel, the NDMA member also informed that the machineries are being taken up the hill, on top of the tunnel, for the vertical drilling. However, this will take time as there are 86 metres have to be drilled from up, he said.
