AUDIO-VISUAL COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHED WITH TRAPPED UTTARKASHI TUNNEL WORKERS

'Horizontal drilling is the best option to rescue trapped Uttarkashi workers’

- 

Rescuers at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site managed to insert on Tuesday an endoscopy camera into the tunnel and the first visuals captured showed the 41 workers had ample space inside the tunnel for them to move about. Visuals of workers trapped inside for the past 10 days emerged on Tuesday morning, has given new hope to worried relatives, some of whom are camping outside the site of the collapsed tunnel structure.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday said that the most "focused effort" of rescuers working at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site is the "horizontal drilling" through the auger machine to evacuate the 41 workers trapped for 10 days in the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction structure. Member NDMA, Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, said that the efforts to rescue the trapped men is underway from five sides, but the best possible method is the horizontal drilling from the Silkyara end of the tunnel. As per the rescue plan, the 900 mm pipes will be pushed in using the horizontal drilling equipment to create an escape for the workers.

"The most focused effort is horizontal drilling through the Auger machine, which is being explored. It started working on November 16 and it has reached 21-22 metres," he said in a press briefing.