Uttarakhand Silkyara Tunnel Rescue: Option of manual drilling being considered, 'no timeline yet'

Uttarakhand Silkyara Tunnel Rescue: Efforts to rescue the trapped workers continued as the drilling machine faced another setback late on Friday night. The ongoing rescue operations for the 41 workers stuck in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district reached the fourteenth day on Saturday.

Officials said that manual drilling would commence soon to cut through the debris separating rescuers from the trapped workers in the collapsed portion of the tunnel. Once the US-made, heavy-duty Auger drilling machine is removed from the pipeline designated for bringing out the trapped workers, manual drillers will initiate their work, he said.

The workers have been trapped since Nov. 12, when a landslide in mountainous Uttarakhand state 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.

Success could soon be achieved in taking the Auger driller out of the pipeline, officials informed further, adding that the heavy-duty drillers could now be moved back by 22 metres.

Speaking to ANI, a senior official involved with the rescue operation said manual drilling could start soon. He added that the remaining debris, extending approximately up to 6 to 9 metres, which stands between the rescuers and the trapped workers, will be removed through manual drilling.

Elaborating on the reasons why the officials involved in the rescue operation have decided to remove the Auger from the pipeline, the senior official told ANI, “While drilling with the US-made Auger machine, if we hit an obstruction every two to three feet, we have to remove it. And, every time we hit an obstruction, we have to roll Auger back 50 metres (up to which the pipeline has been laid). After running repairs, the machine has to be pushed back up to 50 metres, which takes about 5 to 7 hours. This is the reason why the rescue operation is taking longer than it should.”

“The rescue team has now decided that the pipeline will be extended further through manual drilling over small distances. Even if we hit an obstruction further up, the issue could be resolved manually and the pipeline could be extended further without losing out on precious time,” the official added.

He informed further that after drilling up to a further 5 metres, the rescuers will reach the final few metres that separate them from the trapped workers.

Authorities have been supplying the trapped workers with hot meals made of rice and lentils through a 6-inch (15-centimetre) pipe, after days in which they survived on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. Oxygen is being supplied through a separate pipe.