Rescue stopped in Uttarkashi Tunnel, now vertical drilling will happen

The American auger machine broke down just 10 meters away from the workers, due to which the rescue work has been halted since Friday.

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. Along with this, manual drilling, i.e. digging by hand, can be done from inside the 900MM pipe.

At the same time, under Plan B, preparations are being made to start vertical drilling from above the tunnel.

Now know why horizontal drilling stopped
Actually, since November 21, horizontal drilling was being done in the tunnel from Silkyara side. It was quite successful. Out of the 60 meter portion, 47 meter pipe has been laid through drilling. There was a distance of about 10-12 meters left to the workers, but on Friday evening, the shaft of the drilling machine got stuck due to rods coming in front of the drilling machine.

When more pressure was applied from the machine, it broke. Some part of it was broken and removed, but a large part is still stuck there. It will be taken out by manual drilling, then further excavation will be done. Actually, only one person can go and dig in the pipe. Therefore, it may take a lot of time to do this.

Now Plan B: Vertical drilling, but it is extremely dangerous
Drilling from Silkyara side is currently halted, due to which work is being done on Plan B. In this, excavation will be done vertically from the hill top. Materials are being collected at the hilltop site and a platform is being prepared on which drilling will be done by placing the machine. This is the shaft of vertical drilling, which is being taken to the hill top.

This work will be executed by Satluj Vidyut Nigam Limited (SVNL). However, there is said to be a lot of danger in this because there are workers in the tunnel below. A big hole will be made from the top to go down, there is a possibility of a lot of debris falling in it. It is not certain how much time this will take.

What happened till now?

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.

22 November: 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.

16 November: 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.

13 November: 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 in 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.