The operation to rescue 41 staff trapped within the Silkyara tunnel could take a very long time with the auger machine for horizontal drilling going through repeated hurdles and rescuers at the moment are making ready to begin vertical drilling, the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority (NDMA) mentioned on Saturday.
The vertical drilling will begin within the subsequent 24 to 36 hours, NDMA member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain mentioned, including the entrance a part of the auger machine was damaged and efforts are being made to retrieve these from the tunnel. “We need to have patience as it is a dangerous operation … ‘is operation main lamba samay lag sakta hai’ (this operation may take a long time),” he mentioned, with out mentioning any timeline for the completion of rescue operations.
Drilling on the collapsed portion of the Silkyara tunnel to rescue the trapped males halted once more on Friday night time after the auger machine engaged in drilling by the rubble to organize an escape passage confronted a hurdle, apparently a steel object, and busted.
The NDMA member mentioned 47 meters of horizontal drilling have been completed, and efforts are on to take away the damaged a part of the auger machine.
Rescuers are exploring different choices similar to drilling the remaining stretch manually and endeavor vertical drilling.
On the vertical drilling possibility, the NDMA member mentioned that machines are being positioned on a platform on high of the tunnel and vertical drilling operations will begin within the “next 24 to 36 hours”.
The second quickest means (after horizontal drilling) to achieve the stranded staff can be top-down (vertical) drilling of 86 meters, he mentioned.
Hasnain additionally mentioned {that a} 1.5-km entry street to the highest of the tunnel on the Silkyara aspect has already been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for beginning vertical drilling.
“We need to have some patience. We need to understand that a very difficult operation is going on,” Hasnain mentioned, and added two strategies are getting used presently, however a 3rd methodology, that’s drift methodology, can also be used.
“As per the prevailing situation, we need to keep the pipe stable, remove the broken parts of the auger, prepare to begin the drift on the side, prepare for top-down drilling, and stabilize and strengthen the 41 brothers trapped inside and keep monitoring their mental well-being, since this operation can go on for long,” the NDMA member mentioned.
He additionally mentioned that superior equipment is required to chop the caught elements of the auger contained in the tunnel, and the help of the Indian Air Pressure is being sought to airlift this equipment.
The multi-agency rescue effort started November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route collapsed following a landslide, trapping staff inside.