Silkyara Tunnel Debris Puzzles International Experts As Vertical Drilling Starts

With over two weeks passed since the collapse of the Silkyara tunnel on November 12 trapping 41 workers inside, the rescuers are facing a mounting challenge to drill through the debris with even the American Auger Machine failing at the last. Several organisations including the Indian Army, SDRF, NDRF and District Administration are working day and night but only to stare at uncertainty. While the work is underway to dismantle and cut out the parts of the Auguer machine that got damaged during drilling, SJVN (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) has begun vertical drilling work on the top of the tunnel as the second option. 

#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | SJVN begins vertical drilling work on the top of the tunnel. As a second option, vertical drilling work was started from the hill above the tunnel: SJVN pic.twitter.com/szv5xxxQSn

— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2023

Meanwhile, international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said that the situation at the Silkyara tunnel may be unusual. "It may have been an unusual situation occurring here where the class of rock changes...It has to be investigated. The area that collapsed, hadn't collapsed before, hadn't even given any clue that it was going to collapse before. So, it is a part of the challenge for us - the type of ground here, this mountain that caught us on the back foot," he said.

Talking about the lack of escape tunnel, Dix said that escape tunnels are mostly constructed towards the end. "It shouldn't have an escape tunnel at this stage because normally you don't expect them to collapse. So, normally around the world, we don't build our tunnels anticipating them to collapse like this. What we do is we put escape tunnels at the end. So, if there is an incident, users can escape," he said.

Micro-tunneling expert Chris Cooper also refused to share a timeline for completing the rescue mission. 

10 मीटर दूर, 15 दिन से फंसे मजदूर

#UttarakhandTunnelRescue #UttarkashiRescue @supreetanchor @singhanjali @sdasila pic.twitter.com/nkXGvCXKaa — Zee News (@ZeeNews) November 26, 2023

SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra said that the work is underway to take out parts of the Auger machine. "After auger parts are removed from the pipe, manual work will be done and pipes will be pushed manually through the remaining debris. We are hopeful of cutting out the auger parts by this evening." He also said that workers will be taken for treatment once they are pulled out. A Magna Rod cutter machine has also been deployed to speed up the rescue operation, an ONGC official said.

The BSNL has stalled a landline phone at the site to help the trapped workers connect with their families.