’Like we’re knocking on front door’: Uttarkashi op to save 41 men in final stage

mangaloretoday.com

Uttarkashi, Nov 23, 2023: The rescue operation at the Uttarkashi tunnel has reached its final stage, with efforts underway to reach the 41 trapped workers shortly. Ambulances are currently waiting outside the tunnel and a team of seven experts from Delhi has reached the site to help speed up the operation.

 

Steel structures that posed a hurdle in the rescue work on Wednesday night have now been cleared, and the welding process has commenced, Bhaskar Khulbe, former Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office told India Today on Thursday. The rescue team now have to drill 12 metres more to reach the trapped workers. However, the American augur drilling machine is yet to start working.

"The augur machine is being assembled, and drilling will begin post that. Experts from Roorkee have been called to monitor the vibrations in the machine," he told.

The obstacle was discovered on Wednesday after 6 pm when an escape pipe of up to 44 metres was inserted into the debris via horizontal drilling. Rescue officer Harpal Singh told news agency ANI that the drilling machine failed to cut the structures, adding that NDRF personnel will cut those, after which the machine will be used again.

International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who reached the tunnel site this morning, said that the final stage is like being at the "front door and ... knocking on it". "We know that the guys are there on the other side. I am going to have a look and see what is happening...," he told ANI.

An attempt to cut the iron structures with gas cutters was made on Wednesday night as the drilling machine was given time to cool down.

Earlier, officials said the American-made auger machine had to drill through a 57-metre stretch of debris to reach the 41 trapped workers, who have been stuck inside the tunnel since November 12.

The rescue team could now reach the trapped workers and get them out shortly.

Here are the key developments in the final stage of the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue

1. A hospital of 41 beds has been set up at the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur, Uttarakhand, for the medical examination and treatment of the trapped workers after they are rescued from the Uttarkashi tunnel. The workers have been stuck inside the tunnel for more than 200 hours.

2. Two more pipes of six metres each are to be laid through the rubble to complete the escape passage, project head of Jozila Tunnel, who is lending a helping hand in the rescue operations in Silkyara, told PTI on Wednesday.

3. A machine was brought to the rescue operation site outside the Uttarkashi tunnel by helicopter to fix the auger drilling machine. The NDRF personnel are now installing bearings and wheels on stretchers so that the trapped workers can be pulled out on those, and not crawl out through the long pipes.

4. On Wednesday, NDRF personnel entered the tunnel, a statement by the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s Office said. Besides ambulances, a team of doctors has been put on stand-by for health check-ups of the trapped workers. The NDRF personnel carried oxygen cylinders with them at the Uttarkashi tunnel site to assist in the ongoing rescue operation.

5. Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela arrived at the site this morning as the final stage of the mission continues. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take stock of the ongoing rescue work. The Prime Minister enquired about essential items, including food and medicines provided to the trapped workers via a new and wider piper laid for the purpose.

This pipeline was used on Tuesday (November 21) to send an endoscopic flexi camera beyond the debris, which gave the first visuals of the 41 trapped workers.

6. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd) have reached the tunnel site. Dhami said that he spoke with PM Modi this morning, who sought an update on the rescue operation.

7. The Jharkhand government has planned to airlift 15 workers from the state, who are among the 41 trapped inside the Uttarkashi tunnel, after their rescue. An official from the Jharkhand Labour Department present at the rescue spot told agencies about the state government’s decision to airlift the rescue workers from the state.

8. Uttarkashi senior cop Arpan Yaduvanshi gave details about the post-rescue action plan, saying that the workers would be taken through a green corridor with a police escort while ensuring that the "best possible treatment" is given to them.

He further said that with the iron structures now removed from the debris, the rescue operation will be completed "as early as possible", news agency ANI reported.

Garhwal Range IG, KS Nagnyal echoed Yaduvanshi, adding that if some workers are found to be in "serious condition" they will be airlifted. "If they need better medical assistance, they’ll be taken to AIIMS, Rishikesh. The entire state is on its toes," he told ANI.

9. As the rescue work is in its final stage, prayers were being offered at a temple that was built outside the main entrance of the tunnel this morning. Visuals shared by ANI showed a priest worshipping deities as the rescue operation, which commenced on November 12, continues.

10. Medical equipment, consisting of wheelchairs and stretchers, among others, reached the tunnel site earlier in the day. Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed people arranging the equipment and readying those as the final stage of the rescue operation to get 41 trapped workers out of the tunnel is underway.

11. A family member of a trapped worker, namely Chanchal Singh Bisht, told ANI that he had a conversation with his cousin. "It looks like he will come out today... I had a conversation with him, he asked me to go home and said that he was fine," Bisht was quoted as saying.

Courtesy: India Today