Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescue operations may take 2-3 more days, says Union minister

Officials say the labourers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being supplied to them through pipes.

After a landslide and technical glitch hampered rescue operations, Union Minister VK Singh visited the site and said it may take two-three more days to pull out 40 labourers who have been trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12.

"Our people are trapped in the space of 2 km. In this gap, there is light, and we are sending food and water... Our priority is to rescue them sooner. Efforts are being made for this... All the agencies are putting effort into this... A new machine is working, whose power and speed are better than the old machine. Our effort is to complete this rescue operation in 2–3 days... We are also taking the help of international experts as well... I talked with them, and their morale is high. They know that the government is working to rescue them...," he said.  According to him, the rescue could be finished sooner but the government is keeping a longer timeline in mind to account for unexpected difficulties.

A Thai company  has also been roped in to accelerate the efforts. In 2018, the Thai company in a long and intense operation rescued 12 boys from a junior football team and their coach who had been stuck in the Tham Luang cave complex for more than two weeks. On June 23, 2018, during a day trip to the cave complex they were caught in subterranean waterways caused by heavy rain. They were thought to be dead. However, two British cave divers navigated a maze of tiny passageways and waterways and discovered them on July 2. They were trapped in a deep chamber four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the entrance. Around 10,000 Thai and foreign volunteers were involved in the dangerous and logistically difficult rescue mission, with the ups and downs entrancing the world.

VIDEO | "The drilling machine has been installed and is already working there (at the tunnel collapse site). The conditions are tough there, but soon the drilling work will be complete. Hopefully all goes well and we will rescue our brothers soon," says Uttarakhand CM… pic.twitter.com/YMQDyPTwMu

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 16, 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reviewing the rescue operation.

A state-of-the-art performance auger drilling machine was brought in from New Delhi in Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J aircraft to expedite the rescue operation. "Installation of machine that was airlifted to the site of tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi has been done. Rest of the procedure is being conducted," said Anshu Manish Khalkho, Director, NHIDCL.

The machine was 3 metres in after half an hour on November 15, according to Col Deepak Patil, former GM, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).  The machine is supposed to drill through the rubble of the tunnel's collapsed portion and insert 800-mm and 900-mm diameter sections of mild steel pipes -- one after the other. Once this happens, the workers trapped on the other side of the rubble can crawl out to safety. Nearly 50 metres of debris needs to be penetrated to insert the evacuation tubes.

Officials said the labourers were safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water were being supplied to them through pipes.

Also read: Eight labourers from UP among 40 trapped under debris

However, anxiety over the safety of the workers is growing among their friends and family.

Family members of some of the workers told the BBC that they were worried about the health of those trapped.

Dharam Singh, whose son Vijay Kumar is trapped in the tunnel, said he was praying that his son would be rescued soon. Singh said that he left his home in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh state as soon as he got the news about the tunnel collapsing.