Uttarkashi Rescue Day 13: Drilling Halted Yet Again As Auger Machine Hits Metal Object — Updates

The rescue workers said the drill bit had to be pulled out through the passage already bored by the machine.

New Delhi: Drilling at the collapsed Uttarkashi tunnel to rescue 41 trapped workers had to be halted again on Friday after the Auger Machine hit a metal object, news agency PTI reported.

Earlier on Thursday, the drilling process had to be suspended for a similar reason.

According to officials, the drilling process had to be put on hold on Thursday, a day after the rescue operation was halted due to technical snag. However, the rescue process was resumed earlier on Friday after fixing the problem. But after a brief while, the machine had to be stopped again.

The rescue workers said the drill bit had to be pulled out through the passage already bored by the machine, PTI reported.

According to news agency ANI, GPR survey team was called on Friday.

“We were called because something got stuck in the auger machine. GPR helps us know how far the metallic object is...GPR basically scans, therefore two people are needed one to run the GPR and the other to acquire the data,” geophysicist B Chendhoor told the news agency.

Meanwhile, speaking about the drone technology being used in the rescue process, CEO of Squadrone Infra Mining Pvt Ltd, Cyriac Joseph said this technology is used in areas where GPS does not work, ANI reported.

“This is a new technology. It goes into GPS-denied areas and is used in underground tunnels and unground mines. It has been introduced in India recently. Our target is to determine how we can rescue the 41 trapped workers and how quickly we can do it. The safety of the rescue team is also important,” ANI quoted Joseph as saying.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, NDMA member Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said the ground penetrating radar has detected there are no obstacles in the next 5 metres of the tunnel. He added that if the movement of the Auger machine is smooth until 5 metres, the radar will again be used to detect if there’s any obstacle in the next 5 metres, ANI reported.

“There are few things that have changed since yesterday. The steel pipe used in the tunnel has fallen. Progress has been made to remove it through gas cutters. Mounting has been made again and it is almost complete. The pushing of pipes is also being done,” he added.