Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Rescue timeline can range from 2.5 to 40 days, says Govt

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, November 21

The government on Tuesday said it had reasonable belief that the auger drilling at the site of the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel was the best and the fastest available rescue option on the table that would take two and a half days to fructify provided no further hindrances are encountered.

The auger (horizontal) drilling was suspended on November 17 after experts warned of earth movement in the area. It, however, resumed this morning after international and private tunnel experts gathered at the site agreed to continue the horizontal probe in the collapsed tunnel where the auger machine earlier drilled around 21 metres. About 65 metres is yet to be covered.

“The auger drilling was suspended after a scare following geological assessment of the area. There was fear for the safety of those involved in the rescue. The region has since been secured and a protective canopy fabricated for the rescue team. The best available option of drilling through the rubble with an auger machine has resumed this morning. We have reasonable belief it will succeed. If all goes well and we don’t encounter hindrances, we will rescue the workers in two and a half days,” Union Road Transport Secretary Anurag Jain said today.

Several other options, including drilling of a rescue tunnel from another side, vertical drilling and creation of a drift inside the tunnel are simultaneously underway.

Experts have assessed rescue timelines in the geologically sensitive area at 2.5 days to 40 days depending on the option.

The government said it was absolutely confident that each one of those trapped will come out alive.

“The workers have sufficient water, oxygen, power, lighting and ration inside. More food will be sent,” Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), member, National Disaster Management Authority said, describing the survivability of 41 workers as “high.”

He said the men had a two-kilometre secure space inside the tunnel to move around and were not cramped or constricted as could be perceived.

On when the workers would be out, the NDMA member said it was unfair to seek definitive timelines given the complexities of the mission.

Transport secretary Jain was, however, more confident of an early outcome and said he believed the auger option would work. “If we go unhindered, we will rescue the workers in two and a half days. If we encounter hard rock, we have facilities in place for manual cutting. For steel plates in the rubble, we have gas lighting to cut steel. We have a reasonable belief the auger option will succeed,” Jain said.

Government experts added that if auger machine does not succeed, the soundest internationally approved option was the fabrication of a drift tunnel by a manual semi-mechanised method.

The work has begun to create a drift inside the tunnel, with a safe channel established from 180 metre to 150 metre. The Army is mobilising box culverts for the purpose. Families of workers have also been transported to Uttarkashi with some speaking to them today in attempts to keep their morale high.

“The quality of communication will improve with a six-inch pipeline now functional. It will be used to send in communication equipment. As of now, the voice is unclear as if on a mega phone since we are talking through pipelines,” Hasnain said.

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