Uttarakhand Silkyara Tunnel Rescue: Digging halted after auger machine breaks, CM Dhami inspects site

Efforts to reach the 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel for two weeks faced another setback on Saturday as rescuers who were manually removing debris were forced to halt the operation after a drilling machine broke down while navigating through the debris of rock, stones, and metal.

International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said on Saturday that the auger machine engaged in drilling through the rubble at the Silkyara tunnel to rescue 41 trapped workers has busted. “Augering is finished…the auger is broken, destructed,” he told reporters in Silkyara.

The auger machine has been facing repeated obstructions in the rubble in the past few days. When asked about other options such as vertical or manual drilling, he said all options are being explored. “Every door we are opening has its advantages and disadvantages. What we have to ensure is the safety of the rescuers as well as those who are trapped,” he said.

The workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 when a landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel they were building to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance. The mountainous terrain in the area has proven to be a challenge for the drilling machine, which had earlier broken twice as rescue teams attempted to dig horizontally toward the trapped workers.

The machine stopped working after it had drilled about 2 meters (6.5 feet) of the last stretch of 12 meters (40 feet) of rock debris that would open a passage for the workers to come out from the tunnel.

Rescuers have inserted pipes into the dug-out channel and welded them together to serve as a passageway from where the men would be pulled out on wheeled stretchers. About 46 meters (151 feet) of pipe has been put in so far, according to Devendra Patwal, a disaster management officer.

Meanwhile, a new drilling machine used to dig vertically was brought to the accident site Saturday.

The vertical dig is seen as an alternative plan to reach the trapped men, and the rescuers have already created an access road to the top of the hill. However, rescue teams will need to dig 103 meters (338 feet) downward to reach the trapped workers — nearly double the distance of the horizontal shaft.

Authorities have supplied the trapped workers with hot meals made of rice and lentils through a 6-inch (15-centimeter) pipe after days when they survived on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. Oxygen is being supplied through a separate pipe, and more than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, have been at the accident site monitoring their health.

Most of the trapped workers are migrant laborers from across the country. Many of their families have traveled to the accident site, where they have camped out for days to get updates on the rescue effort and in hopes of seeing their relatives soon.

The tunnel the workers were building was designed as part of the Chardham all-weather road, which will connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites. Some experts say the project, a flagship initiative of the federal government, will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where several towns are built atop landslide debris.

Large numbers of pilgrims and tourists visit Uttarakhand’s many Hindu temples, with the number increasing over the years due to the continued construction of buildings and roadways.