Uttarkashi Tunnel collapse | BRO making road to top of hill to start vertical drilling

Efforts underway to build access road at top of hill for vertical drilling to reach 41 trapped workers. 5-plan strategy devised to rescue them. BRO, Army, PMO, NHIDCL, Forest Dept. assisting in rescue ops. CM Dhami & Union Minister Gadkari review ops.

Efforts were underway on Nov. 19 to build an access road at the top of the hill above Silkyara tunnel for initiating vertical drilling to reach 41 workers trapped for seven days, with authorities hopeful that a platform to drill the hole might be ready by this afternoon.

Larger diameter pipes have also been inserted up to a length of 42 metres through the debris this morning to provide enough food and other essentials to the trapped workers, a control room set up at the site said.

Work on building the road began towards Nov. 18 evening with personnel of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on the job, an official at the spot said.

Senior officials, including those from the PMO who visited the site on Nov. 18, are still stationed in Silkyara to oversee the operations aimed at the safe evacuation of the trapped workers at the earliest.

A five-plan strategy on which work will begin simultaneously has been devised to rescue the labourers after the earlier strategies did not produce the desired results. The five plans include drilling from one end to the other on both Silkyara and Barkot sides, vertical drilling from top of the tunnel and perpendicular drilling, former Advisor to PM and now OSD in Uttarakhand Government Bhaskar Khulbe told reporters in Silkyara on Nov. 18. Mr. Khulbe said the concerted efforts could lead to good results in four-five days or even earlier.

The Silkyara tunnel, about 30 km from the district headquarters of Uttarkashi and a seven-hour drive from the Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, is part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project of the Central Government The labourers have been trapped since Nov. 12 morning at the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel where rescue operations are on hold since Nov. 17.

Different agencies have been assigned the task of working on one alternative option each. The BRO and the construction wing of the Indian Army have also been assisting in the rescue operation, an official said.