52 meter horizontal drilling completed in Uttarkashi tunnel

Vertical drilling has been done up to 40 meters from the top of the tunnel. Now 46 meters more is to be done. To reach the workers, 86 meters of vertical drilling will have to be done.

On the other hand, Rat Miners have also got success in horizontal drilling. About 3 meters of manual drilling has been done since Monday evening. Tunnel rescue micro tunneling expert Chris Cooper said, 'The rescue work last night was very good. So far the results of the rescue are very positive.

CM Dhami said that till Tuesday morning, excavation up to 52 meters has been done. Now a distance of 7 to 8 meters is left from the stranded workers.

On Friday, November 24, the blades of the machine were broken just 12 meters before the workers' location. Because of this the rescue had to be stopped. Let us tell you that on November 12, a part of the tunnel under construction had collapsed. Due to this, 41 laborers working in the tunnel were trapped inside.

Modi said- pray for the laborers trapped in the tunnel
PM Modi said in Hyderabad on Monday, 'The government is making continuous efforts to ensure the safe return of stranded workers. Today when we pray to God and talk about the welfare of humanity, we should also include in our prayers those labor brothers who are trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand.

6 rat miners dug for 12 hours on Monday night, removing soil by hand

• Rat miners are manually digging inside the tunnel. By digging overnight on Monday, rat miners removed soil from about 47 meters to a further 51 meters. Six members of Rat Miners are working in this entire operation.
• Rat miners go inside the pipe one by one to dig, then dig with a small shovel with the help of hand and come out with about 7 to 8 kg of debris at a time using a small trolley.
• Inside the pipe, all of them have an oxygen mask for protection, special glasses for eye protection and a blower for air, so that there is no problem of any kind inside.

Rat miners are responsible for manual drilling.
Munna, a resident of Delhi, has reached the Silkyara Tunnel site with his colleague Rat Miners. These workers work in Rockwell Company. These people are expert workers in manual drilling. They will go into the tunnel passage in groups of 2-2 and will carry out the remaining 12 meter horizontal drilling by hand. According to Munna, all of them are ready to go inside the tunnel and start drilling.

What are rat miners?
Rat means mouse. The workers who drill through narrow passages are called rat miners. Drilling in this way requires special training, skill and a lot of practice. These rat miners will enter and drill 800mm pipe.

Robots will keep an eye on workers' health

The help of robotics is being taken to keep an eye on the 41 laborers trapped inside the tunnel. For this, AI and robotics developer Milind Raj has been called from Lucknow. Milind said- We will do three big things. One- We will monitor the behavior and health of the workers 24X7. Will detect the desperate situation of the workers trapped inside the tunnel. Second- If any gas is coming out inside the tunnel, we will detect it. Third - We will provide high speed internet system inside the tunnel where the network is not available properly.

This happened till now!

November 27: 13.9 meter long parts of the stuck auger machine were taken out from Silkyara side at 3 am. By late evening the head of the auger machine was also taken out from the debris. After this the rat miners started drilling manually. By 10 pm the pipe was also pushed forward by 0.9 meters. Also 36 meters of vertical drilling was done.

November 26: Vertical drilling started from the mountain top to rescue 41 laborers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel of Uttarkashi. Excavation took place up to 20 meters till 11 pm. Under vertical drilling, a path is being made by making a big hole in the mountain from top to bottom. Officials said- If there is no hindrance, we will reach the workers in 100 hours i.e. 4 days.

November 25: Rescue work halted on Friday due to breakage of auger machine and remained halted on Saturday also. International tunneling expert Arnold Dix has said that now drilling will not be done with the auger, nor will any other machine be called.

Help of other options will be taken to evacuate the workers. Under Plan B, preparations are being made for vertical drilling from above the tunnel. NDMA says that about 86 meters of digging will have to be done to reach the workers.

November 24: When drilling work started in the morning, steel pipes came in the way of the auger machine, due to which the pipe got bent. The steel pipe and the bent part of the pipe being inserted into the tunnel were taken out. The auger machine was also damaged, it was also repaired.

After this, the auger machine was again inserted into the debris for drilling, but due to a technical glitch the rescue team had to stop the operation. On the other hand, NDRF conducted a mock drill to evacuate the workers.

November 23: American auger drill machine had to be stopped three times. Late in the evening, due to strong vibration during drilling, the platform of the machine caved in. After this the drilling was stopped till the next morning. Earlier, drilling of 1.8 meters was done.

November 22: Success in sending breakfast, lunch and dinner to the workers. More than 15 meters of drilling was done by Silkyara with auger machine. In view of the workers coming out, 41 ambulances were called. A team of doctors was deployed near the tunnel. A 41-bed hospital was prepared in Chilyansaur.

November 21: The camera was sent inside through endoscopy and the picture of the trapped laborers emerged for the first time. He was also talked to. All the workers are fine. There was success in delivering food to the workers through a new 6-inch pipeline. Drilling started with auger machine.

Three rescue plans were announced by the central government. First- If there is no obstruction in front of the auger machine, rescue will take 2 to 3 days. Second- It will take 10-15 days to dig from the side of the tunnel and evacuate the workers. Third- It will take 35-40 days to dig the tunnel from Dandalgaon.

November 20: International tunneling expert Arnold Dix reached Uttarkashi and conducted survey and finalized 2 spots for vertical drilling. Success was achieved in laying a new 6-inch pipeline to provide food to the workers. A rescue tunnel was made for the rescue of the workers working with the auger machine. BRO completes road construction for vertical drilling near Silkyara.

November 19: In the morning, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami reached Uttarkashi, took stock of the rescue operation and assured the families of the stranded people. Drilling started again from Silkyara End at 4 pm. Construction of another tunnel to deliver food began. A plan was made to send food or build a rescue tunnel by sending a small robot from where the debris had fallen in the tunnel.

November 18: Drilling work remained halted throughout the day. Workers trapped due to lack of food complained of weakness. PMO advisor Bhaskar Khulbe and Deputy Secretary Mangesh Ghildiyal reached Uttarkashi. Drilling was planned from five places.

November 17: The health of two laborers deteriorated in the morning. He was given medicine. At 12 noon, drilling stopped due to stones coming in the way of the heavy auger machine. 24 meter pipe was inserted inside the tunnel from the machine. The new auger machine reached Dehradun from Indore at night, which was sent to Uttarkashi. At night, the tunnel was cut from above and a survey was conducted to rescue the trapped people.

November 16: Installation of 200 horse power heavy American drilling machine Auger was completed. The rescue operation started again at 8 pm. 18 meter pipes were laid inside the tunnel at night. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a review meeting of the rescue operation.

November 15: After drilling for some time as part of the rescue operation, some parts of the auger machine got damaged. The families of the workers clashed with the police outside the tunnel. They were angry over the delay in the rescue operation. After the intervention of the PMO, the Hercules aircraft of the Air Force from Delhi reached Chilyansaur helipad carrying the heavy auger machine. These parts got stuck in the plane itself, which could be taken out after three hours.

November 14: Due to continuous mudslide in the tunnel, experts from Norway and Thailand were consulted. Auger drilling machine and hydraulic jack were used. But due to continuous debris coming, a plan was made to take out the workers by laying 900 mm thick pipes i.e. about 35 inches. For this, help of auger drilling machine and hydraulic jack was taken, but these machines also failed.

November 13: By evening, the pipeline started being laid 25 meters deep inside the tunnel. The work had to be stopped after 20 meters due to debris coming in again. Oxygen, food and water started being continuously provided to the workers through pipes.

November 12: Debris started falling into the tunnel at 4 am and by 5.30 a huge amount had accumulated up to 200 meters inside the main gate. Oxygen, medicine, food and water started being sent inside through the pipe laid to drain water from the tunnel. NDRF, ITBP and BRO were deployed in rescue operations. Debris up to 15 meters was removed with a 35 horse power auger machine.