DEHRADUN/SILKYARA: The ‘rat-hole’ miners started working on Monday after a team of rescue personnel successfully extracted the blades and other components of the auger drilling machine that had become lodged inside the 800mm wide escape passage being built in the Silkyara tunnel on Friday, leading to the suspension of the operation for several hours.
A team of the Madras Sappers regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Army along with other personnel managed to clear the escape tunnel in an operation that lasted over 60 hours, officials said.
“The auger blades, previously lodged inside the escape passage during horizontal drilling, were successfully extracted. Only its head remained inside, prompting the cutting of 1.9 metre pipe for removal,” Neeraj Khairwal, state coordinator of the rescue operation, said.
Mahmood Ahmed, managing director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which is coordinating the rescue effort, said, “The upcoming six metres pose a significant challenge for us, given the potential presence of garders, forepoles and metal pipes within the rubble. In fact, the debris cleared manually also contained concrete blocks and metal rods that needed to be cut.”
Harpal Singh, former director general of the Border Roads Organisation, who was at the tunnel site on Monday, said “we will gradually move ahead by half a metre to one metre at a time and if all goes well and no obstacles are encountered, the 10-odd metre stretch left to reach the trapped men can be covered in 24-36 hours.”
In another related development, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, assigned the responsibility of vertically drilling an 8-inch lifeline, accomplished the drilling of 75 metres, National Disaster Management Authority officials said.
A team of the Madras Sappers regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Army along with other personnel managed to clear the escape tunnel in an operation that lasted over 60 hours, officials said.
“The auger blades, previously lodged inside the escape passage during horizontal drilling, were successfully extracted. Only its head remained inside, prompting the cutting of 1.9 metre pipe for removal,” Neeraj Khairwal, state coordinator of the rescue operation, said.
Mahmood Ahmed, managing director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), which is coordinating the rescue effort, said, “The upcoming six metres pose a significant challenge for us, given the potential presence of garders, forepoles and metal pipes within the rubble. In fact, the debris cleared manually also contained concrete blocks and metal rods that needed to be cut.”
Harpal Singh, former director general of the Border Roads Organisation, who was at the tunnel site on Monday, said “we will gradually move ahead by half a metre to one metre at a time and if all goes well and no obstacles are encountered, the 10-odd metre stretch left to reach the trapped men can be covered in 24-36 hours.”
In another related development, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, assigned the responsibility of vertically drilling an 8-inch lifeline, accomplished the drilling of 75 metres, National Disaster Management Authority officials said.