According to officials, manual drillers will get to work once the US-made, heavy-duty Auger drilling machine is removed from the pipeline through which the trapped workers are to be brought out.
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New Delhi: Manual drilling will start soon to cut through the debris that separates rescuers from the 41 trapped workers in the collapsed portion of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. According to officials, manual drillers will get to work once the US-made, heavy-duty Auger drilling machine is removed from the pipeline through which the trapped workers are to be brought out.
Relief and rescue work, which entered the 13th day, is being carried out by scientists, international experts, NDRF, SDRF, and BRO on a war footing. Officials said currently there is no timeline as to when the the operation could be resumed and workers would be rescued, however, they hope to evacuate them at the earliest.
“Manual drillers will work to cut through the remaining rubble that separates the rescuers from the workers and enable the insertion of the pipeline through the further few metres that are yet to be covered,” officials said.
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There are only 10 metres of debris left between rescuers drilling in from the Silkyara end and the trapped workers, but officials say it is difficult to anticipate when this last leg of the operation will be completed. Some progress has been made on alternative rescue efforts by boring vertically into the tunnel, as well as drilling efforts being made from the other Barkot end.
Success could soon be achieved in taking the Auger driller out of the pipeline, officials informed further, adding that the heavy-duty drillers could now be moved back by 22 metres. Speaking to ANI, a senior official involved with the rescue operation said manual drilling could start soon. He added that the remaining debris, extending approximately up to 6 to 9 metres, which stands between the rescuers and the trapped workers, will be removed through manual drilling.
Elaborating on the reasons why the officials involved in the rescue operation have decided to remove the Auger from the pipeline, the senior official told ANI, “While drilling with the US-made Auger machine, if we hit an obstruction every two to three feet, we have to remove it.
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And, every time we hit an obstruction, we have to roll Auger back 50 metres (up to which the pipeline has been laid). After running repairs, the machine has to be pushed back up to 50 metres, which takes about 5 to 7 hours. This is the reason why the rescue operation is taking longer than it should.”
