Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation General VK Singh visited the site of the collapsed tunnel in Silkyara, Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand on Thursday to take stock of the rescue operation. Speaking to the media, Gen Singh said that he had spoken to the 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel and that their morale was high.

The under-construction tunnel in the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway caved in on 12 November and since then various agencies of the Central and State government have been carrying on the operation to rescue the workers safely.

On Thursday, the Union Minister also informed that government is taking help and advise from experts in the country as well as from abroad.

The operation was stopped for some hours on Wednesday after the drilling machine faced some glitches. Later, the Indian Air Force (IAF) airlifted a heavy drill machine and other equipment to an airstrip close to the site. Anshu Manish Khalko, Director, National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) disclosed to PTI that the new machine is an American Auger and that its specialty is that it has a faster rate of digging.

Drilling equipment was urgently needed to rescue construction workers stuck due to a tunnel collapse on the ongoing project near Dharasu, Uttarakhand.

Landing expeditiously today afternoon, the #IAF, utilising its C-130 J aircraft, has now airlifted the drilling equipment… pic.twitter.com/KNBk87riln

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) November 15, 2023

Union Minister VK Singh also stated that the new machine that has more power and speech is working well and that they were hoping for the rescue mission to be completed in two to three days.

Earlier on Wednesday, co-workers and families of the trapped workers staged a protest against the delay in rescuing the operation. The workers have been inside the tunnel since early hours of Sunday. Oxygen, water and food are being supplied to them through pipelines, it has been informed.

The tunnel in Uttarakhand is part of the Char Dham pilgrimage project being built at the cost of $1.5 billion that aims to connect four important Hindu pilgrimage sites of North India through 889 kilometres (552 miles) of two-lane road.