Six-inch pipe reaches tunnel in boost to rescue op workers

Some respite was finally expected for the workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi as rescuers managed to install a second “lifeline” pipe on Monday to provide food and water to the 41 people, and have a better means of communication, on the ninth day of an operation that has become an ordeal for the families and colleagues of the workers.

- Amit Bathla

Rescuers were also looking at five sites, including at the top of the mountain, where passages big enough for humans to crawl through can be created, officials coordinating the operation said.

“The next step is the more vital one and the most important — that’s to get them out intact, happy,” Colonel Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue efforts, said.

The construction workers have been trapped since last Sunday when a portion of the under construction 4.5-kilometre tunnel on the National Highway between Siklyara and Barkot collapsed. The tunnel is part of the busy Chardham all-weather road, a flagship project connecting various pilgrimage sites.

Since then, the authorities have been following two concurrent objectives of the multi-agency operations.

The first was to find a method the extricate the trapped men which has seen various setbacks over the last nine days. The last such attempt to drill from the Silkyara side using powerful auger machines was stymied by rocks that were damaging the equipment. On Friday afternoon, when the drilling was stopped, the machine had only breached 22 metres of the 65-metre-thick wall of debris.

The second objective was to ensure the health of the workers — who have repeatedly complained of fever and nausea — does not deteriorate by providing them with food, water and essential medicines, and communicating with them.