Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: 'Operation to rescue 41 workers may take long time', says NDMA

Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) reaches the Silkyara tunnel site where the rescue operation is underway to bring out the trapped workers.

Kundan, an employee of BSNL says, "On the instructions of the government, a landline facility is being made available here. Efforts are underway to lay wires for that purpose. The landline (phone) will be sent to the workers trapped inside so that they can speak with their family members..."

On Silkyara tunnel rescue operation, International Tunneling Expert, Arnold Dix says, "We are looking at multiple options, but with each option, we are considering how do we make sure that 41 men come home safe and we don't hurt anyone. The mountain has again resisted the auger, so we are rethinking our approach. I am confident that the 41 men are coming home by Christmas. I have always promised that the workers will be home by Christmas."

Vertical drilling work will start as soon as the drilling machine arrives.

Family members of three more Odia workers will reach Uttarakhand, where the labourers have been trapped in an under-construction tunnel for a fortnight, an official said. The kin of the two other labourers from Odisha are already in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district where the incident occurred. Labour Commissioner N Thirumala Naik on Friday said one more official of the department will also travel to the site where two others are camping and providing all updates about the rescue operation to the government. A total of 41 workers have been trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel.

With the auger machine encountering hurdles in the rubble time and again, rescuers are considering switching over to manual drilling at the Silkyara tunnel where 41 labourers have been trapped for the past 13 days, officials said on Saturday. Drilling at the collapsed portion of the tunnel to rescue the trapped men was halted again on Friday night, in yet another setback to the multi-agency effort.