Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Operations: Manual drilling is underway at the Silkyara tunnel where 41 labourers have been trapped for the last 16 days (since Nov 12) after the tunnel collapsed leading to a lengthy relief operation. The rat-hole mining experts were called in to aid the ongoing rescue operations and they began manual drilling Monday through the rubble. Meanwhile, micro tunneling expert Chris Cooper said the team crossed 50 metres of drilling on Monday night as they did not encounter any obstacle.
"...It went very well last night. We have crossed 50 metres. It's now about 5-6 metres to go...We didn't have any obstacles last night. It is looking very positive..." he said.
As far as the rat-hole mining is concerned, twelve experts will be involved in manual drilling and excavation horizontally through the last 10 or 12-metre stretch of debris of the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel, reported PTI. It was earlier being done by a huge auger machine that got stuck in the rubble on Friday, forcing the rescuers to search for alternative options -- drilling down from above the tunnel. About 40 per cent of the 86-metre vertical drilling required is now done.
The first visuals of manual drilling, shared by ANI on X, formerly Twitter, show experts carrying out ra-hole mining through a thick pipe. The auger machine is being used for pushing the pipe and so far, about 2 meters of manual drilling has been completed.
Officials have decided to handle the final stretch through a manual approach in which individual workers will go into the escape passage with drills, as well as gas-cutters to tackle obstacles like iron girders, according to PTI. By Monday evening, the last bit of the stuck auger had been cut out piece by piece and a steel pipe was inserted further into the partially complete escape passage.