Rescuers boring wider hole in Tapovan tunnel

Tribune News Service

Joshimath, February 13

Rescuers today began boring a wider hole into the Tapovan tunnel in an attempt to locate around 35 persons trapped inside for around a week.

The Silt Flushing Tunnel (SFT) was reportedly punctured on Friday night by drilling a 75mm-diameter hole into it, but now it was being widened to 300 mm so that a camera and a water flushing pipe could be inserted into the tunnel.

A senior official of the Uttarakhand Government said there was no big breakthrough yet in the rescue work. “We have drilled a hole, but we can’t say it is a big breakthrough unless we find something concrete.”

The official, however, maintained that the rescue work had been speeded up with the installation of some additional machines. The rescuers are working on two strategies—drilling a hole vertically downward and also digging and excavating debris and sludge inside the tunnel.

According to Chamoli district administration officials, 166 persons are still missing while 38 bodies have been found. “As only 12 bodies have be identified so far, the administration has taken DNA samples of the remaining 26,” a senior district official said.

A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team, meanwhile, visited the natural lake created near Reni village. It concluded that the lake does not pose any “danger”, as it already has a “controlled outlet”.