The trapped labourers in the Silkyara tunnel will get their first hot meal, khichdi, in nine days. According to news agency ANI, the cook who prepared the Khichdi for the stranded labourers, said that this is the first time a hot meal is being sent to the workers.
"This food will be sent inside the tunnel. This is the first time a hot meal is being sent. We are sending Khichdi. We are only preparing the food which we have been recommended," he said.
Uttarakhand CM says pipeline successfully laid
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami took to social media platform to announce the update. He wrote, "As part of the ongoing rescue operation to rescue workers trapped inside the tunnel under construction in Silkyara, Uttarkashi, a 6-inch diameter pipeline has been successfully laid across the debris. Now through this, food items, medicines and other goods will be easily sent to the workers as per the requirement. Central agencies, SDRF and state administration teams engaged in rescue operations are working tirelessly. We are working on a war footing to evacuate all the workers safely."
Earlier, rescue workers drilled 25 metres through the rubble in tunnel, inching closer to the 40 labourers trapped there for five days. The workers need to drill up to 60 metres to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes- one after the other- with the help of a giant drill machine till an escape passage is created for the labourers stuck behind the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel, NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Khalkho said.
The tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in the early hours of November 12. Union Minister of State of Road Transport and Highways VK Singh informed that the labourers were confined in a small space of about 2 kilometres in the debris and they were sending in food and water and oxygen via a pipe to the trapped workers.
About the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse
It should be noted here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also taken a detailed update on the rescue operations and assured of all possible help. The Centre and the state government are working together for the safe exit of the trapped labourers. The 40 trapped workers include 15 from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five from Odisha, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam and one from Himachal Pradesh.
ALSO READ | Uttarakhand tunnel collapse Day 5: Food being supplied through pipes to trapped workers | DETAILS
ALSO READ | Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Protest breaks out by workers at accident site, rescue ops enter Day 4
