Uttarkashi tunnel rescue plan involves 900mm pipe
Uttarkashi tunnel rescue plan involves 900mm pipe
In Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, 40 workmen are stranded within the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel. Rescue operations are in progress.
In order to enable the trapped workers escape, the rescue crews are currently attempting to create a passageway inside the tunnel by placing 900 mm pipe.
On Tuesday, the rescue effort entered its third day. Trucks carrying the pipe and drilling equipment arrived at the tunnel site earlier in the day.
In order to push the pipe through the debris and remove the workers, a platform is being set up so that the equipment can operate horizontally. The workers may travel through the 900 mm pipe because it is wide enough.
In addition to the rescue teams, all necessary machinery and equipment have been sent to the location. To expedite the process, irrigation department representatives also arrived at the tunnel rescue site on Monday night.
Uttarkashi senior police officer Arpan Yaduvanshi said on Monday that out of 60 metres of debris, more than 20 metres have been cleared. “We expect to evacuate the 40 people trapped inside by the evening of Tuesday,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
A machine is also being used to send food, water and other essential items to the trapped workers.
Authorities have been using heavy excavators along with two ROC machines since the collapse in order to clear piles of concrete, muck and debris.
Prashant Kumar, a senior police officer from Uttarkashi who is involved in the rescue effort, informed the source Today that every employee within the tunnel is safe. This morning, relatives of a few of the laborers arrived at the tunnel site. According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), rescuers communicated with the stranded workers by radio on Tuesday.
According to senior disaster management official Ranjit Kumar Sinha, the stranded men may survive “for about five to six days” in the tunnel portion due to the availability of oxygen, as reported by AFP.
On Sunday morning, a section of the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway, which runs between Silkyara and Dandalgaon, collapsed, trapping the workers.
The tunnel is 4.5 km long in total, with 2,340 meters built from Silkyara’s end and 1,750 meters from Dandalgaon’s.
There is still 441 meters that need to be built to connect the two sides of the tunnel. 200 meters from the entrance was where Silkyara’s part collapsed, according to officials who spoke with news agency PTI.
