Rescue and relief operations have intensified at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site where 41 workers have been trapped since November 12. The boring operation to create an escape passage for the trapped workers resumed last night, with rescuers successfully placing broad pipes up to a depth of 45 meters through the debris.
Rescuers have to drill up to around 57 metres in total to reach the trapped workers who have been stranded on the other side of the rubble.
According to officials, 800-diameter steel pipes have been inserted up to 39 meters through the rubble.
The drilling was suspended on Friday after the auger machine hit a hard object. The resumption of drilling with the auger machine is expected to expedite the rescue efforts.
Elaborate healthcare arrangements have been put in place for the workers as and when they crawl out through the pipe. This came after a six-inch diameter food pipeline laid on Monday to deliver food and other essentials to the trapped workers had gone from this side of the rubble to the other side after being pushed up to 57 metres.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take stock of the ongoing rescue operations at the tunnel. PM Modi inquired about the food, essentials, and medicine supplied to the trapped workers through a new and wider pipeline laid for the purpose. It was through this new pipeline and an endoscopic flexi camera sent beyond the rubble, that the first visuals of the trapped workers were captured on Tuesday.
Article source: indiatoday.in
