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New Delhi. Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain said on Sunday that the central government is committed to the safe evacuation of 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel (tunnel ) in Uttarkashi since November 12 and is working on a five-option action plan for this. Meanwhile, Jain released a video to provide latest information on the Uttarkashi Tunnel rescue operation. Authorities have made several alternative plans to reach the workers trapped inside the under-construction tunnel.
He said, ‘Five options have been decided and five different agencies have been decided to fulfill these options. Responsibilities assigned to five agencies namely Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Satluj Hydropower Corporation (SJVNL), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL). ‘Silkyara Tunnel, located at a distance of about 30 kilometers from Uttarkashi district headquarters, is part of the Central Government’s ambitious Chardham ‘All Weather Road’ (a road that remains open for traffic in all weather) project.
41 laborers trapped in tunnel since last 8 days, rescue operation continues on war footing
The tunnel is being constructed under the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). About 30 meters of the under-construction tunnel, 270 meters inside the mouth from the Silkyara side, had collapsed last Sunday morning at around 5.30 am and since then the workers are trapped inside it. To rescue them, rescue and relief operations are being carried out on a war footing. The rescue operation was suspended on Friday afternoon when the US-made auger machine used to drill to clear the way for the workers malfunctioned.
Access road built in one day, machines brought from Gujarat and Odisha
Jain said that after the Border Roads Organization (BRO) completed the construction of one approach road in just one day, RVNL has started work on another vertical pipeline to supply essential commodities. Apart from this, Tehri Hydropower Development Corporation (THDC) will start ‘micro tunneling’ work from Barkot end, for which heavy machinery has already been mobilized. SJVNL will do vertical drilling to rescue the trapped workers. Accordingly, the equipment has been mobilized from Gujarat and Odisha through Railways as being a 75-tonne equipment, it could not be transported by air.
ONGC started drilling work
ONGC, which has expertise in deep drilling, has also started the initial work of vertical drilling from Barkot end. He said, ‘The government is committed to ensure the safe passage of all the workers. The central government had held a high-level meeting on Saturday, in which five options to save the workers were discussed with various agencies which were entrusted with the responsibility of working on specific options. NHIDCL Managing Director Mahmood Ahmed has been made in-charge of coordination with all central agencies and has been posted at Silkyara.
Workers are trapped in an area 8.5 meters high and two km long.
Jain said that the government is in constant touch and is making every possible effort to maintain the morale of the workers trapped inside the tunnel. He said, ‘The area where the workers are trapped is 8.5 meters high and two kilometers long. This includes the constructed part of the tunnel where concreting work has been completed, providing safety to the workers.’ Jain said that NHIDCL is building another six-inch pipeline and another 60-meter pipeline to deliver food items to the workers. 39 meter drilling work has been completed. He said, ‘Once this tunnel is ready, it will facilitate the transportation of more food items.’
The government is making every possible effort, the biggest priority is to evacuate the workers.
At the same time, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who reached Uttarakhand on Sunday, said that every possible effort is being made to save the workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel and getting them out soon is the biggest priority of the government. The Union Minister, who reached the spot along with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, said that the rescue operation is challenging in view of the difficult Himalayan conditions. He said that the level of soil here is not uniform and it is both soft and hard, making it difficult to carry out mechanical operations.
