Critical Rescue: Uttarkashi Tunnel Operations Hinge on 5 Plans for 41 Trapped Workers

In the event that the horizontal strategy fails, officials are beginning to consider vertical drilling from the top of the tunnel as the eighth day of attempts to rescue the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi approaches.

Officials from the rescue team are also optimistic that by Sunday afternoon, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) will have completed construction of a new route leading to the Silkyara tunnel. This would open up an additional route for the stranded laborers, allowing the rescue operation—which had been put on hold since Friday—to resume.

Professor Arnold Dix, a renowned specialist in tunneling who was called in to assist with the rescue effort, announced on Friday that he was currently on his route to India to assist the team on site. The specialist spoke with India Today about his strategy for freeing stranded laborers.

To save the 41 men, a group of specialists at the location and representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) have chosen to collaborate on five different ideas at the same time rather than just one.

1. Even though drilling operations started on Saturday, officials believe that in order to get to the trapped workers as soon as possible, they should operate simultaneously on five plans rather than just one.
2. Drilling straight down from the top of the tunnel, drilling at a right angle, and drilling from side to side on both the Silkyara and Barkot ends are the three tactics used. In relation to the rescue operation, Prime Minister’s Office officials gave assurances that they had “resources, options, and ideas” in abundance and that they were also receiving assistance from overseas specialists.
3. Reporters were informed on Friday by DP Baluni, the District Forest Officer (DFO) of Uttarkashi, that a location just above the tunnel had been designated for vertical drilling. He continued by saying that a hole would be bored from that location to get there, and the hole would be between 300 and 350 feet deep.
4. A robust drilling apparatus was sent from Indore to the location of the tunnel collapse on the Char Dham path on Saturday. It is presently being built and will shortly be used to continue drilling through the debris, according to officials on the scene.
5. The Union government had a high-level conference on Saturday to talk about five possibilities for the workers who are trapped to be rescued. Sources claim that different agencies were given particular options to concentrate on throughout the conversation.
6. More than a week has passed since the November 12 at 5:30 am collapse of a portion of the Silkyara tunnel. Rescue efforts had stopped on Friday afternoon. The US-made auger equipment was drilling holes in the rubble and inserting pipes to construct an escape route.