Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Indian Army to undertake manual drilling task
What's the story
The rescue work to save 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi suffered another setback after the auger machine got stuck while drilling on Saturday.
Reportedly, the auger struck a metallic grinder during horizontal drilling and is now stuck inside the collapsed tunnel.
Amid this, the Indian Army was called in on Sunday to assist with the rescue efforts. They will help cut out the pieces of the stuck auger.
Context
Why does this story matter?
A portion of the 4.5km under-construction tunnel between Dandalgaon and Silkyara collapsed on November 12, trapping 41 workers.
While the debris span was initially around 60m near the tunnel's mouth on the Silkyara side, rescuers announced on Friday that barely 10m remained, raising hopes that workers might be out soon.
However, continuous technical snags have delayed the rescue work and raised concerns about the mental and physical health of the trapped workers.
Details
Protection umbrella being laid for workers ahead of manual drilling
Manual drilling would require a worker to enter the already bored stretch of the rescue route, drill for a brief period in the confined space, and then come out to let someone else take over.
Meanwhile, a protection umbrella is being installed to ensure safety for the workers who will take up the challenging task of manual drilling inside the tunnel.
Authorities have also begun vertical digging on the hilltop above the Silkyara tunnel to create an alternate rescue path.
What Next?
Tunneling expert provides update on stuck auger
Speaking about the auger machine, international tunneling expert Arnold Dix said there are many technical difficulties in getting the auger out of the pipe.
"That's (the process of cutting it out) going much faster this morning as plasma cutters have come," he told the media.
"Once we have got the auger out, we can go in and have a look at the pipe, see what condition that is in, and then we can assess what next," Dix added.
Insights
Plasma machine at work to remove stuck auger
Earlier, micro tunneling expert Chris Cooper spoke to ANI about using a plasma machine to cut the struck auger.
"It is about 16 meters more of the auger to cut. It (plasma machine) is beneficial as it will cut the steel faster."
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the plasma machine was brought in from Hyderabad and has been working since this morning.
Twitter Post
You can watch Cooper's comments here
#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper says, "Plasma machine - we are still cutting the auger. It is about 16 metres more of auger to cut...It (plasma machine) is beneficial as it will cut the steel faster...The plasma machine cuts… pic.twitter.com/8d9twKiJAN
— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2023
Further details
Auger machine faced 3 technical snags in 3 days
It's worth noting that Sunday marks the 15th day of the operation to rescue the 41 trapped workers. Over the last three days, the American drilling machine has reportedly faced three snags.
Drilling was halted for a day after it hit a metal pipe on Thursday evening. On Friday, work stopped again when the machine encountered another metallic object. On Saturday, the machine got fully stuck inside the tunnel.