Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: The 41 trapped workers are expected to be rescued soon as the rescue operation at the Uttarkashi tunnel enters its final phase. While ambulances are presently awaiting deployment outside the tunnel, a group of seven experts from Delhi have arrived to expedite the process.
Steel Structures Removed
According to Bhaskar Khulbe, a former advisor to the prime minister’s office, India Today on Thursday, the steel structures that presented a challenge to the rescue efforts on Wednesday night have now been removed, and the welding process has started. To reach the trapped workers, the rescue team must now drill an additional 12 metres. The American augur drilling machine hasn’t yet been put into service, though.
Augur Machine Assembly
“The augur machine is being assembled, and drilling will begin post that. Experts from Roorkee have been called to monitor the vibrations in the machine,” he told India Today. After 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the obstruction was found when an escape pipe up to 44 metres long was horizontally drilled into the wreckage. The NDRF will cut the structures, according to rescue officer Harpal Singh, who told news agency ANI that the drilling machine did not succeed in doing so. The machine will then be used once more to cut the remaining structures.
Arnold Dix’s Insight
Arnold Dix, an international tunnelling expert who arrived at the tunnel site this morning, compared the last stage to knocking on the “front door.” “We are aware that the guys are over there.” He said to ANI, “I’m going to take a look and see what’s going on. While the drilling machine was allowed to cool down on Wednesday night, an attempt was made to cut the iron structures using gas cutters.
Light at the End
Prior to now, officials said that in order to get to the 41 workers who have been stranded inside the tunnel since November 12, the US-made auger machine had to cut through 57 metres of debris. The workers were now within reach of the rescue team, who could quickly free them. Following their rescue from the Uttarkashi tunnel, the 41-bed hospital has been established at the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur, Uttarakhand, for the purpose of treating and examining the trapped workers. More than 200 hours have passed while the workers are stranded inside the tunnel.
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