Police officers stand guard next to a barricade behind the entrance of a tunnel where 40 road workers are trapped after part of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 16, 2023. Portal/Shankar Prasad Nautiyal NO RESALES . NO ARCHIVES. Purchase license rights
SILKYARA, India, Nov 17 (Portal) – Rescuers trying to reach 40 workers trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel in India’s Himalayas since last weekend temporarily stopped work on Friday because their drilling machine became stuck, said Authorities with.
The men have been stuck in the hillside tunnel in the state of Uttarakhand since Sunday morning after the collapse.
They have lights, receive oxygen, food, water and medication through a tube and speak through a walkie-talkie. Although officials say they are fine, families wait anxiously, some camping outside.
Efforts to reach them were slowed by falling debris from drilling, and a new machine flown in from New Delhi began work Thursday with the intention of clearing space to push through pipes so the men could were able to crawl and get to safety.
The pipes had been pushed over 22 meters (72 feet) – about a third of the way – when an obstruction occurred on Friday afternoon, said the state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), which is building the tunnel.
“The machine cannot push further when raised” and its bearings would be damaged, the statement said, adding that work was underway to anchor the machine to the platform.
Engineers on site are fabricating replacement bearings to restart operations, NHIDCL director Anshu Manish Khalkho told Portal.
A rescue mission is currently underway in the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand to free 40 workers trapped inside after a landslide.
District chief medical officer RCS Pawar said the temperature inside the tunnel was higher than outside and the men did not complain of feeling cold.
With the onset of winter, nighttime temperatures have dropped to 13 degrees Celsius (55°F).
The 4.5 km long tunnel is part of the Char Dham Highway, one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel to collapse, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
Arnold Dix, the Australia-based president of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association, who is among the experts consulted by rescuers, said it was important to take time and care.
“We cannot move quickly and risk a second catastrophe,” he told Portal. “This situation is extremely dangerous and we must be extremely careful.”
Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; Writing by YP Rajesh; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne
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