Rescuers closer to trapped Uttarkashi tunnel workers

At 3:45am on Tuesday, Jaimal Singh Negi had cheered when he saw the first visuals of 41 workers — among them his elder brother — who have been trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi for the past 11 days. Twenty-two hours later, at 12.45am on Wednesday, Negi cheered even louder as an American auger machine began drilling into the debris for the first time in four days. By Wednesday evening, officials announced to an excited group of family members and colleagues that there were only 18 metres of an estimated 57 metres of debris left to drill through, making the possibility of a reunion, and the successful end of a painstaking multi-agency rescue operation, a real possibility.

- Amit Bathla

The 41 men have been stranded inside a 2km stretch since November 12, when a portion of the 4.5km Silkyara-Barkot tunnel on the National Highway in Uttarkashi district collapsed. Since then, there have been multiple attempts to engineer methods to evacuate the workers, including the use of an American auger machine to drill through close to 60 metres of debris from the Silkyara end. 

Last Friday, drilling was halted with only 22 metres of the process completed, after efforts were stymied because of the damage to the bearings on the machine after it hit rock formations, and fears about a collapse in the tunnel.

But even as multiple experts were called in and four other avenues from where drilling could begin were identified, after technical modifications over the past five days, the auger machine from the Silkyara end restarted operations late on Tuesday night, and steadily made progress through Wednesday. By 4am, officials announced that it had navigated a distance of 33 metres. At 11.30am, there was more encouragement, with it reaching 39 metres. And by Wednesday evening, officials announced that a successful end may be near, with 45 metres completed.