Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue: The rescue operations to evacuate the 41 workers trapped after a part of an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi ended on Thursday, after 17 days. PM Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami have been closely monitoring the rescue operation.
Principal Secretary to the PM, PK Mishra also visited the site on Monday and spoke to the trapped workers. Throughout these days, the entire nation waited to see the workers coming out of the tunnel.
The operation, like any other rescue mission, had its own highlights and breakthroughs. Here are the high and low points of the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation.
Contacts Established With Trapped Workers
A day after the tunnel collapsed trapping 41 workers (Nov 12), the rescue team established contact with them after 12 hours of drilling. The trapped workers then sent signals that they were safe. Officials also supplied oxygen and water to them.
Landslide Hits Rescue Operations
Three days into the rescue operation, a landslide hit the attempts to insert steel pipes through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel and injured two rescuers. They were sent to the makeshift hospital established on the site.
Protest Seeking Prompt Evacuation Breaks Out
A protest by workers chanting 'hamara aadmi nikalo' [take out our men] broke out on Nov 15 at the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse site as rescue operations entered Day 4. Workers clashed with the rescue officials demanding their fellow workers be pulled out. The agitated protestors expressed their frustration over the delay in rescuing the trapped workers despite officials' assurance.
Advice Sought From Thai Cave Rescue
In order to pull out the trapped workers, India also sought advice from a Thai company that successfully rescued children from a flooded cave in 2018, reported news agency AFP. "Officials have contacted the Thai company which rescued the children trapped in the cave", read a statement released by the state government department of public relations.
Meanwhile, a heavy drilling machine was airlifted from Delhi after the old equipment "failed", reported PTI, citing officials.
Auger Machine Brought In For Horizontal Drilling
On the fifth day of the rescue mission, a new heavy drilling machine (auger) was flown in from Delhi and installed to aid operations. Colonel Deepak Patil, who has been looking after the relief and rescue operation, said that the 'Jack and Push Earth Auger' machine, made in the US, was very advanced, IANS reported.
Drilling Halted Due To Snag
As the rescue effort continued, the Indian Air Force (IAF) airlifted approximately 22 tonnes of crucial equipment from Indore to Dehradun via a C-17 transport aircraft after drilling work within the tunnel came to a halt. The drilling was halted after workers heard a 'cracking' sound and encountered a technical snag.
BRO Moves In For Vertical Drilling Option
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials had launched efforts to drill a vertical hole from the top of the hill under which 41 workers were trapped. Desperation mounted for families waiting outside after rescue operations were suspended due to a snag in the drilling machine.
International Experts Called In
After eight days into the operations, President of International Tunneling Underground Space Professor, Arnold Dix, and heavy machines arrived at Silkyara tunnel to fasten the rescue mission.
First Major Breakthrough: 6-Inch Pipe Installed
Officials on Monday (Nov 20) installed a 6-inch pipeline in the first major breakthrough in the rescue operation. The pipeline was laid for supplying food, medicines, and other essential items to the workers.
First Visuals Of Trapped Workers
On Nov 21, the first visuals of the trapped workers emerged after the rescue team reached the workers with an endoscopic flexi camera.
Auger Machine Fails
As rescue efforts entered its last phase, the auger machine, critical for horizontal drilling, broke down leaving blades inside the drilled portion. The rescue workers said the drill bit had to be pulled out through the passage already bored by the machine.
Plasma Cutter Flown From Hyderabad
After the drilling inside the tunnel came to a halt due to parts of the Auger machine being stuck in the rubble, a plasma cutter was flown from Hyderabad to cut and remove those parts to continue the rescue operations
A complete disengagement of the machine was crucial for the officials to continue their rescue work which involves pushing the pipes through the rubble manually in order to create an escape passage.
Indian Army Steps In For Manual Drilling
After the breakdown of the auger machine, a unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, arrived at the rescue site on Sunday in order to assist in the rescue operations. The Indian Army was tasked with manual drilling. In this, one worker would enter the steel chute laid so far and operate the drill, and another man would send the debris out through a pulley in a time-consuming manner.
'Rat-Hole' Mining Expert Begin Manual Drilling
Rat-hole mining began inside the tunnel on Monday. The technique is a controversial and hazardous procedure in which miners in small groups go down narrow burrows to excavate small quantities of coal. Uttarakhand government’s nodal officer Neeraj Khairwal made it clear that the men brought into the site were not rat-hole miners but people who are experts in the technique, PTI reported.
Workers Walk Out Of Tunnel
After over two weeks, the trapped workers finally walked out of the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel on Tuesday, following the persistent efforts of experts and the team that worked through day and night. The evacuated workers were taken to a Silkyara hospital via a green corridor.