Uttarkashi, 24 November: The operation to save the lives of 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel is now at its last stage. It is expected that if everything goes well, all the workers will come out safely on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami are keeping an eye on this rescue operation every moment.
The work was stopped yesterday due to concreting being done under the platform of the auger drilling machine. Drone technology is being used in this rescue operation. Regarding this, Cyriac Joseph, MD and CEO of Squadron Infra Mining Private Limited, says that this drone technology is the latest. This drone can go inside the tunnel. It is accessible even in areas where GPS does not work.
So far, rescue workers have drilled 46.8 meters into the Silkyara tunnel. The rescue operation is expected to resume some time from now. Australia’s international tunnel expert Arnold Dix says that we are now standing right at the door.
The hurdle faced during the rescue operation launched to safely rescue 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand has been resolved to a great extent in the night. Meanwhile, this morning union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) reached the tunnel site. He took stock of the rescue operation.
Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and special officer of the Tourism Department of Uttarakhand Government, associated with this campaign, said this morning that now the situation is quite fine. We had to work on two things at night. First of all, we restructured the platform of the machine. After this, whatever little pressure there was on the pipe had to be cut. This is what is happening at this time. After its completion, the process of auger drilling will be started.
He said that Parsons Company has done studies with Ground Penetration Radar. This revealed that there is no metal barrier for the next five meters in the tunnel. This means that drilling must be smooth. It is noteworthy that after the collapse of a part of this tunnel under construction on Chardham Marg, a rescue operation has been started from November 12 in coordination with various agencies.
