Uttarkashi Tunnel Latest Update:Reached the moon but did not reach 41 workers

Report By Sanjiv Mehta from Uttarakashi.

41 workers trapped in the under construction tunnel of Uttarkashi since the day of Diwali are hopeful of coming out. All efforts are being made to take them out but every time they are not getting success due to some obstacle or the other.There is a discussion going on on social media that we have reached the moon but when will we reach the 41 laborers.

On the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that everyone has made a lot of efforts in this (rescue operation). They have cut half of the machine. The front part of the pipe is bent and then drilling work will begin. I met the families of the workers who were stranded from Tanakpur. PM Narendra Modi is also keeping his eye on this matter Vertical drilling work is going on above the Silkyara Tunnel. Till now drilling has been done up to 30 meters The auger of the auger machine stuck inside the tunnel has been taken out. Now manual drilling work will be started here, which will proceed under the supervision of Engineering Battalion Madras Sappers of the Indian Army.

Silkyara: Wet weather expected on Monday could mean more complications for the rescue of 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for more than two weeks but rescue leaders said they are prepared to deal with it.

The workers have been stuck in the 4.5 km (3 miles) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on November 12.

Bad weather was approaching with thunderstorms, hail and lower temperatures expected in the mountains but rescue organisers said they would handle it.

“They are trained in working in every situation so that’s not a worry for us,” said Mahmood Ahmad, managing director of the NHIDCL company, which is building the tunnel and helping with the rescue, referring to rescue teams.

The 41 trapped men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen, and medicines through a narrow pipe but efforts to dig them a tunnel to bring them out have run into a series of snags.

Rescuers trying to drill a tunnel horizontally through the rocks trapping the men have been plagued by damage to their machinery and have resorted to drilling by hand, after clearing away the broken equipment.

On Sunday, they opened another route to the men, aiming to drill a shaft straight down from the top of the mountain above them to get them out.

“Difficulties will come, difficulties have been coming, but we are prepared for it,” said Jasvant Kapoor, a general manager of the SJVNL drilling company which is in charge of the new shaft.

As well as the thunder and hail, cold weather is setting in with a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) expected on Monday.

The tunnel is part of the Char Dham highway, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most ambitious projects, aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through 890 km of roads.