Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Vertical drilling begins, rescue shaft enters 20 metres on first day

Two BRO officials were injured after their SUV was hit by a private bus near the Silkyara tunnel site on Sunday afternoon, police said. The accident occurred just half a kilometre away from the tunnel, where 41 workers have been trapped for 14 days, when three Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials were on the way to the site in their official vehicle.

The third lifeline for food and communication can enter inside the tunnel vertically anytime in the next 1-2 hours. It is an 8 inches pipe, which is coming from the top of the tunnel. It already entered 78 meters and now 10 more meters to cover. The overall vertical length of the food pipe is 88 meters.

"Vertical drilling of 19.2 metres done on first day to create escape passage for 41 workers trapped inside Silkyara tunnel," said official.

8-inch pipeline and 1.2-meter diameter pipe are being laid through vertical drilling from two different locations.

 'About 20 meters of vertical drilling completed so far,' informed SJVN. 

Drone cameras are being used by experts to monitor the rescue operation that is underway here to bring out the 41 trapped workers.

"The work of manual clearance will start through the remaining 47 meters and the work will be carried forward through Army engineers. It may not be a quick process but it is a safer way. The remaining 15 meters will be removed by hand drilling, hence the speed will be slow," NDMA said in a press conference.

"Six plans are being deployed to rescue 41 workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel while the best plan so far is horizontal drilling," said NDMA.

"This is unfortunate... If the escape route that was planned had been made, this situation would not have arrived... An investigation should be done against those who have not followed the rules and regulations... The state government and central government should make all the efforts to save them and make sure they reach their homes back," said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. 

"We have now come to a stage where we started working on 2-3 more options since yesterday. We have told SJVNL to do vertical drilling of 1-1.2 metre diameter for us. We identified spots where the drilling could be better...Drilling of almost 15 metres is complete. We identified a spot where we estimate that a total drilling of 86 metres has to be done, 15 metres is done; we think that this will complete in the next 2 days," Mahmood Ahmad, the Managing Director of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). 

"Indian Army will now do manual drilling. Indian Army's Madras Sappers will do manual drilling along with some civilians. 20 special people have been called for this. The plasma cutter has arrived and has begun cutting the American Auger. Along with plasma cutter, top laser cutter is also being used. If the American machine is taken out by these cutters by evening, then the tunnel work can be completed in 12-14 hours. The possibilities of vertical drilling are negligible as at this time all 41 people inside the tunnel are comfortable, and are getting food. There are chances that there will be pressure on the tunnel and their pipes will break due to debris if vertical drilling is done. It is possible that this is why the equipment for vertical drilling has been moved up, but this will not happen. To do manual drilling, Indian Army along with civilians will do rat boring inside the tunnel. After digging by hand and with tools like hammer and chisel, the soil will be taken out and then the pipe will be pushed forward from the platform," officials said on Sunday.