Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Ops: Auger Machine Resumes Drilling, First Pipe Pushed In

The rescue operations to safely evacuate the 41 workers trapped after a part of an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi entered 11th day on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the first visuals of the trapper labourers emerged after an endoscopic camera was sent in through a new six-inch wide pipeline bringing hope to relatives who are camping there for days.

In the video released by the rescue agencies, the workers could be seen in their yellow and white helmets receiving food items sent to them through the pipeline and talking to each other.

Officials watching them on a screen could be heard giving instructions asking them to clean the lens. The workers were told to come near the camera and use walkie-talkies, apparently sent down earlier.

The family members of the labourers also communicated with them through the four-inch compressor tube that already existed and asked about their wellbeing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the second day in a row, and enquired about the progress. “The prime minister said it is our top priority to rescue all the workers safely,” Dhami said in post on X.

A doctor who communicated with the labourers through the new pipeline said that some of them complained of a burning sensation while passing urine, according to a PTI report.

They were being sent electrolyte powder packets, multivitamin tablets and anti-depressants, general physician P S Pokhriyal.

In Delhi, National Disaster Management Authority member Lt General (retd) Hasnain said simultaneous efforts were being made on five fronts to save the workers.

He said that the “the focus is on horizontal drilling” as the rock formation at the site poses challenges to vertical drilling. Road Transport secretary Jain said under the current circumstances “vertical drilling is the second-best option”.