Uttarkashi rescue op hits biggest hurdle yet, decision on vertical drilling likely
The Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation to save 41 trapped workers faced the “biggest hurdle” so far after the American-auger drilling machine hit a metal girder on Friday evening.
The drilling stopped as a result, and the operation has since been put on hold. Now, officials are considering the option of vertical drilling, and a decision on the same is expected to be made soon.
The government agencies involved in the rescue operation have begun preparing for vertical drilling. The machine to be used for the drilling has been fully installed, and is ready to be mounted.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has already prepared the road to reach the vertical drilling site, and goods will soon be transported to strengthen the platform.
Visuals gathered by India Today showed labourers, including women, going to the top of the hill to start digging for the vertical drilling. One of them said that around 20 labourers have been tasked with the job.
The setback on Friday evening happened soon after the drilling resumed after several hours of technical snag. The auger machine was withdrawn due to hitting the metal girder and the rescue work has since been on hold.
Officials now believe that the usage of the American-auger machine for the rescue operation is “very difficult”.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who conducted an inspection of the Silkyara tunnel site on Friday, said that the rescue operation is in its “final stage” and assured that both central and state government agencies are working together to get the 41 trapped men out.
Meanwhile, NDMA official Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) advised the media not to make assumptions regarding the timeline for the completion of the rescue operation, adding that it creates a “wrong perception”, news agency PTI reported.
Here are the key developments in the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation
On Friday, the American-auger drilling machine encountered its biggest obstacle so far as multiple iron rods came in front of it. The front part of the drilling machine got stuck in the iron structures, and the government agencies are currently attempting to find a solution to release the auger machine.
Additional Secretary Technical, Road and Transport Mahmood Ahmed said on Friday that two more pipes of 6-metre each have to be injected into the debris to create a passage for the trapped men to be pulled out. He added that the first pipe would 51 to 52 metres, and with the next one, the rescue team hopes to achieve a “breakthrough”.
“This is our own estimation and understanding. These estimations are based on certain realities, but they are all assumptions and not to be taken exactly, but we hope to be there some way,” Ahmed told news agency ANI.
The team of experts who were called to the tunnel site to conduct a survey said that there is no obstacle (heavy objects) up to the next 5 metres that the rescuers would drill. The experts used ground-penetration radar (GPR) technique to draw the conclusion.
NDMA official Hasnain also said the same, adding that rescuers continue to “use this (GPR) to detect obstacles, if any”, ANI reported.
A drone, which is being used in the rescue work, can go “inside the tunnel” and to “GPS-denied areas”, Cyriac Joseph, MD & CEO, Squadrone Infra Mining Private Limited told news agency ANI. He added that the drone goes autonomous in inaccessible areas, helping in forming better understanding of the rescue operation should there be any convergence.
The Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation has faced several setbacks over the last three days. On Wednesday, drilling was stopped after the auger machine hit some iron structures. After a delay of several hours, the rescue operation resumed on Thursday only to face a technical snag late in the night. On Friday, the auger machine was reassembled, and the drilling commenced, but a fresh hurdle arose after the auger machine hit a metal girder.