Auger Machine From Odisha Reaches Uttarkashi Tunnel With Recuse Ops At Final Stage

Bhubaneswar: An auger machine from Odisha’s Sambalpur has reached Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district for drilling operations in Silkyara tunnel, where 41 workers, including five from Odisha, are trapped.

According to reports, the Centre had written a letter to Odisha Chief Secretary, seeking the machine being used by a construction company for Hindalco in Sambalpur’s Hirakud. A green corridor was created on November 21 for transporting the machine. It was initially dismantled and transported in a train from Sambalpur to Raipur. It was then taken to Gwalior in trailer trucks and shifted to Uttarkashi in an aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

The entire process was monitored by central government, NHAI and Railways Ministry.

Reports further said that this France-built machine is more powerful that the Heavy American Auger machine being currently used to drill through the debris. An expert from Paris has also reached the spot to run the machine. There are only four such machines in the country.

Meanwhile, the drilling, which was temporarily halted on Thursday due to a snag in a machine, is expected to start shortly after strengthening of the 25-tonne platform. “A bent part of forepole (pipe) from tunnel lining was struck in the auger assembly which led to vibration. The platform for the auger machine is strengthened using an accelerating agent for rapid hardening of concrete,” the official bulletin said.

Former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office Bhaskar Khulbe told the media that they are hopeful of moving ahead smoothly and expect a breakthrough in next 12 to 15 hours. “Last night rescue team strengthened the auger machine’s platform, removed obstacle in front of auger and reconstructed the mouth of 800mm pipe, which was squeezed due to obstacle, and used ground penetrating radar (GPR) to scan debris. We found that there is no obstacle in the path of auger, till next 6 metre, beyond the 46-metre point through the rubble,” he said.

The NDRF also demonstrated the movement of wheeled stretchers through the pipeline, for the rescue of 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara Tunnel once the horizontal pipe reaches the other side. 41 ambulances, one each for trapped workers, and other facilities are also in place to airlift workers in serious condition.