Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Trauma And Ordeal Of 41 Workers - A Picture Of Life Behind Wall Of Debris

Over 280 hours inside the Silkyara tunnel were not as stressful as the past 24 hours of waiting. High in hopes to see an end of their prolonged ordeal, 41 trapped tunnel workers are now finding the 60-meter-plus debris block a distance longer than their life.

By all means, it was expected that evacuation of the workers, who had already spent 11 days inside the collapsed tunnel since November 12 morning, would begin anytime around midnight on Wednesday.

 All post-evacuation precautions were already in place but the last minute hurdle jeopardized the efforts and dashed the hopes of the family members waiting outside with battered breaths to see their loved ones coming out alive.

Sabah Ahmed, brother of a trapped worker named Mohammad Naushad, spent anxious hours outside the tunnel on Wednesday night, hoping to see him coming out alive from the mount of debris.

For the families coming from Bihar and Jharkhand, it was freezing cold at night. However, as their expectations were so high on the success of the rescue endeavour, their thrill and happiness did not make them shiver until they heard about the American Auger machine facing the massive iron obstacle.  

The 800mm horizontal evacuation pipe had almost come across 45 meters out of the 60 meter debris wall. It was a question of penetration of merely 10 to 12 meters before the workers could have been extracted safely from the collapsed tunnel.

“But, around midnight, the information came about a machine (Auger machine) facing iron /steel obstruction. Today (Thursday) again, there was no breakthrough. These are stressful moments, not alone for the families outside but also the workers inside”, Ahmed says.

The demoralising news after those prolonged hours of waiting visibly caused a shift in people's mood both outside and inside the tunnel.

Till now, it looks like the life inside the tunnel is moving only on ‘inches and meters’ even as seven experts were flown from Delhi and a seismologist from IIT Roorkee for assistance.   

The workers were provided with food,water, medicines and other essential materials through the 6 inch alternate pipe and efforts were also made to bring few family members inside the tunnel to boost the morale of the stranded workers inside. But now the family members even started looking worried when the deployed technology itself, alongside the place's geology, had turned into the biggest obstacles on their way to meet their loved ones.

Divendra Kisko, brother of another trapped worker Virender Kisko said,“ They are not able to understand why things are not moving fast even the rescue operation has made its biggest breakthrough of pushing the rescue pipe upto 45-46 meters. We had very high hopes on our brother coming out last night”

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the spot in Uttarkashi to take a stock of the rescue operation and had a conversation to two workers including Gavar Singh Negi, an experienced foreman, hailing from Pauri Garhwal who informed him about all arrangements having been made for the workers safe return.

“Some hurdles have come in the process ,which will be over soon. I am camping here and have briefed Prime Minister Modi ji, who is taking daily updates. We have ambulances ready outside, a makeshift hospital readied at Chinyalisaur for taking the workers and helicopters are positioned for airlifting those with worsened health conditions”, he told workers through an audio-communication system.

Rescue efforts were halted, further compounded by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of crucial heavy-drilling machines.

Last week the initially-used giant earth-boring machine had run into boulders. Drilling was put on hold for more than three days after a cracking sound in the roof alarmed rescuers.

Earlier this morning, the project head of the under-construction Zoji-la Tunnel project in Kashmir, Harpal Singh, informed that 44 meters of piping via horizontal drilling has already taken place. However, when the auger machine stopped working, it was found that some steel rods in the debris had come in the way. The machine couldn't cut those rods. Therefore, NDRF personnel crawled inside with gas cutters and cut down the iron rods.

Later the information also came about a few technical snags that led to slowing down of the rescue work.

According to Dr Neeraj Khairwal, secretary of the Uttarakhand government ,who is also the nodal officer for the rescue operation, "Triangle shaped girder got stuck due to which the auger machine also broke down after crossing 45 meters. We had to pull out the machine from the pipe." 

He further explained,"Thereafter we sent an expert NDRF official inside to see the mouth. It was very hot inside. Two experts –Balvir and Parminder went inside to see .They conducted a daring operation of cutting down the hurdle."

" I admit the rescue is facing new challenges but that will not stop the teams from reaching their final goal of safely evacuating all the 41 workers".