The agencies involved in the operation are unable to rescue the 41 workers trapped in a tunnel for more than a week and are working on an alternative plan. This involves tunneling sideways and drilling from the top to build a vertical shaft.
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The Center has drawn up a five-option action plan that involves drilling from three sides to gain access to the trapped workers. Five different agencies are responsible for carrying out each operation.
Two tunnels are drilled horizontally from the right and left sides of the main tunnel, while a vertical shaft is drilled from the top of the tunnel. The workers have been stuck in a 400-metre buffer zone of the unfinished main tunnel since November 12.
The major challenge is finding space for the many drilling machines needed in the hilly terrain and the time-consuming job of building motorable roads, which has begun.
Currently, a single machine is operating in the area, paving the way for a heavier machine. Workers are also building a ramp from the main tunnel entrance to the roof to transport the heavier machine.
This morning a wider pipe was brought in, which is currently being constructed. This allows rescuers to deliver a wider variety of food and medicine to the trapped people. Previously, only dried fruit could be supplied. The new pipe will allow authorities to provide larger meals.
Today an international team of tunnel experts arrived on site. Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association, oversees operations. A robotics team from defense research organization DRDO has also arrived.
Over the past week, several plans to cut through the 40-meter-high rock face failed. It had also backfired twice, with more stones and rubble falling from the unplastered roof, increasing the depth of the rock face from about 40 to more than 70 metres.
The latest rockfall occurred on Friday when an attempt was made to use an American Auger drill flown in from Delhi. The drill used for this had broken down and work had to be halted until the new one arrived.
Initially, the plan was to cut the rock face and install a pipe about 1 meter wide through which the people could be evacuated. But after repeated collapses, authorities decided on a radically different approach.
On November 12, a section of the 4.5 km tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed, trapping 41 workers. The tunnel – meant to connect Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi – is part of the Char Dham project.
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