Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: Breakthrough Expected As Rat-Hole Miners Arrive For Manual Horizontal Drilling

Uttarkashi: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principal secretary P K Mishra visited Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel and spoke to 41 labourers trapped for the last 15 days, a six-member team of rat-hole miners arrived at the site from Delhi and Jhansi to start manual drilling horizontally through the rubble.

On the other hand, vertical drilling, which is currently being carried out, has progressed to 31 metres. A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to reach the trapped workers. The remaining work is likely to be completed within 3-4 days. according to reports.

Former director general of Border Roads Organisation Harpal Singh told reporters that the 200-mm diameter pipes, which were inserted vertically earlier to learn about the soil strata and find out whether there are any obstacles on the way, have reached up to 70 metres. He further said that preparations are underway to start horizontal drilling inside the main tunnel manually.

“Frames of 800-mm diameter pipes have been prepared. We will move ahead by half a metre to one metre gradually. If all goes well and no obstacles are encountered a 10-metre stretch can be covered in 24-36 hours,” he added.

Rescuers will have to manually dig 10 to 12 metres through the rubble. The American auger machine had completed 46.9 metre of the roughly 60-meter stretch before its drilling tool and cutter broke inside the pipe, bringing the rescue operation to a halt on November 24. The process of removing parts of the auger was completed this morning.