Tunnel collapse: Fmr PMO advisor says trapped workers are in 'high spirits'

UTTARKASHI: Former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office Bhaskar Khulbe arrived at the Silkyara Tunnel on Wednesday, where 41 workers have been trapped for 11 days after a portion of an under-construction tunnel collapsed on November 12.

Speaking to reporters at the mouth of the tunnel site, Khulbe said the trapped workers were in high spirits after he spoke with them while a NDRF official said that the communication is well established with the trapped workers.

"It is a matter of great pleasure for us that 39 metres of pipeline have been inserted for horizontal drilling through the rubble. Everything is going as planned. I spoke to them, and everyone was in high spirits. Let us hope we will be able to achieve it," he said. He was also accompanied during his visit by the Uttarkashi District Magistrate, Abhishek Ruhela. NDRF Second in Command Ravi S Badhani while speaking to ANI said," The rescue operation is going really well. A good horizontal drill is happening... According to my knowledge, we are very close to victims now... It's difficult to give a time frame, but it's time-consuming... "The situation of the trapped worker is fine. They were given the morning breakfast. Communication is well established. They are talking nicely to their family members. Their morale is high..."

Meanwhile, the location has been identified for vertical drilling to bring out 41 workers trapped inside Silkyara Tunnel, 11 days after the under-construction structure collapsed. As per the Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), Anshu Manish Khulko, "The location for vertical drilling has been identified. Road work for vertical drilling on the hill above the tunnel is almost complete. More than 350 meters of road construction work is complete. BRO is building a road from both Silkyara and Barkot sides which is almost complete."

A piling machine that was stuck yesterday due to the road being narrow, has now reached the Silkyara tunnel site. On Tuesday, rescuers had attempted 'horizontal drilling' and fed trapped workers with solid cooked food simultaneously. A total of five agencies-- ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL-- have been assigned specific responsibilities to evacuate the 41 labourers trapped for 10 days in the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction structure following a landslide.

The collapse occurred on November 12 during the construction of a tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot, trapping 41 labourers due to a muck fall in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel.

On Tuesday morning, rescuers managed to insert an endoscopy camera into the tunnel and the first visuals captured showed the 41 workers had ample space inside the tunnel for them to move about. Visuals of workers trapped inside for the past 10 days emerged on Tuesday morning, has given new hope to worried relatives, some of whom are camping outside the site of the collapsed tunnel structure