Tunnel Rescue Operation Now has 6 Plans

Uttarkashi: As vertical drilling in the Silyara tunnel began on Sunday after the US-made auger machine broke down, the rescuers now have six plans in place as the Indian Army is now on board in the rescue mission that dragged on for the last 15 days. National Disaster Management Authority member Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) on Sunday said the 41 workers trapped in the underconstruction tunnel are in good health condition and are getting their food and medicine. They are in constant touch with their relatives through the communication lines. The rescuers — all agencies together – – are working to explore alternatives while vertical drilling made considerable progress on Sunday. The NDMA member explained that plan A would be the best one which involves manual drilling after the broken parts of the auger machine are extracted. The machine got stuck and its blade came off. Indian Air Force and IndiGo chartered flight have ferried the instrument required to cut the blade. The broken parts are expected to be taken out by tonight. Manual digging will start once all parts of the auger machine are out of the tunnel. This will be a fail-safe measure but will progress slowly. The auger machine has already drilled 47 metre inside the tunnel. The manual digging will start after that and will be done for the rest 15 metre. After the drilling is over, they will first place an 800-mm pipe and if it does not go in, they will place a 700-mm pipe. The plan B of vertical drilling has already started and 15 metre out of the target of 86 metre has been completed. This is being done by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. If it is successful, then the workers will be lifted by buckets one by one. According to the experts, this is the second-best option. The third plan of the rescuers is to drill sideways but work on this has not started yet as the equipment required for it has not reached the site. While the vertical drilling that began on Sunday is on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, the rescuers have a plan to do the same on the other side of the tunnel. A total of 24-inch vertical drilling on the side of Barkot will have to be done for which a 5-km road is being made by the BRO. This will remain an alternative. The NDMA member explained that blasting on the Barkot side of the tunnel was done on Sunday morning and an area of 10-12 metre has been penetrated. Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) said the 6th plan involves drift technology in which the sides of the tunnel will be scrapped. Army engineers will be taking care of it.

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