Form the 14th day, workers have been trapped inside the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand. Know everything on Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse.
The 2023 Uttarakhand tunnel collapse happened on November 12, 2023, when a piece of the under construction Silkyara Bend – Barkot tunnel fell in the Uttarkashi district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The collapse happened around 5:30 a.m. lST, trapping 41 people within the tunnel. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the police promptly commenced rescue operations.
ALSO READ: India’s Giant Leap In 2023 : ISRO’s Gaganyaan Mission And The Dream Of Human Space Flight
Construction of Uttarakhand tunnel
The Silkyara Bend Barkot tunnel was built by Navayuga Engineering Construction Limited (NECL) as part of the Char Dham all-weather road project connecting four Hindu holy places, and it was located on National Highway 134 near Yamunotri. That National Highway will link Dharasu on the south end to Yamunotri on the north end. The tunnel will cut the distance by around 20 kilometers (12 miles). It will be 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) long.
When Uttarakhand Tunnel collapse
A part of the Silkyara tunnel under construction fell around 5:30 a.m. on November 12, 2023. The collapse happened about 200 meters from the tunnel’s entrance, trapping 41 construction workers within. A team of geologists from the state government and educational institutions was dispatched to the scene to investigate the cause of the disaster.
Rescue operation and efforts
During the rescue efforts, two tunnel boring machines were deployed, the second (flown in three sections) when the first’s progress was insufficiently rapid.
Drilling through the rubble in the tunnel was halted on November 17th due to cracking sounds. Parallel and adjacent access tunnels to the existing main tunnel have been started. Another technique under consideration is to drill down from the surface of the ground above the tunnel.
During the operation, three pipes were drilled: one for oxygen, one for dry food, and a 6 inch (15 cm)-wide conduit for supplying heated meals and allowing the insertion of an endoscopic camera.
On November 21, it was claimed that communication with (and supply to) the stranded workers had been made via a larger conduit. The pipes were used to bring the guys dried fruits and other sustenance (including hot meals of rice and lentils), oxygen, and other necessities, as well as a small flexible camera to video and speak with them. At this point, in addition to digging through the rubble in the tunnel, efforts were being made to drill three vertical shafts.
Problems with the consistency of the rubble and metal rods, as well as a pipe caught in it, caused delays in the drilling on November 22 and 23, with significant repairs required to the drilling machine and its mounting platform on November 23; at this point, it was estimated that the operations had progressed 75% of the way through the obstructing debris.
Drilling has been paused once more owing to a technical issue; rescue personnel intend to use the vertical drilling option
The workers are still stuck within the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand for the 14th day after the US-made auger equipment, which is drilling through the debris to establish an escape corridor, stopped again on Friday evening after encountering another block. The National Disaster Response Force and the SDRF are prepared for a high-risk rescue effort to evacuate 41 workers. Meanwhile, people in the region are imploring local deities to pray for the operation’s success. One method is to sing Garhwali folk ‘jagars’.
“Everyone knows that this rescue operation is being carried out under difficult and challenging circumstances,” said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. After getting so close, the machine became stuck…We anticipate that this equipment will be removed by tomorrow morning, and that the operation will then proceed manually…We are considering all options. The plasma cutter machine from Hyderabad has been ordered to cut the auger machine…”
“Three days ago, I expressed a doubt that were standard operating procedures followed in this (Uttarkashi Tunnel),” said Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj. That dread has come true now that I am reading the news in newspapers. To avoid environmental clearance, the project of constructing hundreds of meters of road was broken into 53 smaller sections. Then it was amended so that no environmental clearance is required… The national and Uttarakhand governments are responsible for this work…”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister PS Dhami arrives in Uttarkashi to assess the status of the Silkyara tunnel rescue effort.
Arnold Dix, an international tunneling expert, is on the scene of the rescue mission
“There are several options. There isn’t just one way… Everything is fine right now… The Augering will no longer be visible. Auger has completed his work. The auger (machine) has malfunctioned. It’s beyond repair. It has been disturbed. There will be no further auger work. No more auger drilling. “There will be no new auger…”
Every day, the Prime Minister receives detailed information regarding the workers’ well-being and the ongoing relief and rescue operations in Silkyara tunnel. Central authorities, state administration, and international expert teams are collaborating, and we will soon be able to securely evacuate our brothers.
The rescue teams are assuring that there is no room for error in the operation by stationing a 10-bed hospital, 40 ambulances, 20 physicians, and 35-40 support staff outside the tunnel and a 41-bed hospital at Chinyalisaur, some 50 kilometers from the tunnel site.
According to experts interviewed by TOI, the Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) test is not always definitive because it may miss the presence of tiny items in the path.
The Uttarakhand Tunnel has NO EMERGENCY EXIT and was constructed through a geological fault: Member of the Inquiry Panel
The government of Uttarakhand has constituted a six-person expert team to study the reason of the tunnel collapse. The Director of the Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Centre chairs the committee.
Click here, to Check HNN’s latest post. Stay here to get live update on Tunnel Rescue opertion.
Image Source: Google
