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

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.

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.