Devendra Kumar
Rescue teams in northern India are facing new challenges as they attempt to reach 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand state. The workers have been stuck since November 12, when a landslide caused a section of the 2.8-mile tunnel to collapse. The teams have drilled through 151 feet of debris and need to excavate up to 40 feet more to create a passageway. However, on Friday, the machine hit a new metal obstruction in rock debris, causing the drilling to stop again.
According to Devendra Patwal, a disaster management officer, it could take several hours to cut the metal object and resume drilling. The machine was stopped after drilling about 6.5 feet of the last stretch of 40 feet of rock debris. The platform of the drilling machine became unstable while boring and halted the digging on Thursday, but it resumed drilling on Friday evening.
Before the work resumed, rescuers manually dug through debris to remove pieces of metal and prevent further damage. The rescue teams are also inserting pipes into the dug-out channel and welding them together to serve as a passageway. About 151 feet of pipe has been put in so far.
The mountainous terrain in the area has proven to be a challenge for the drilling machine, which broke down last weekend as rescue teams attempted to dig horizontally towards the trapped workers. The high-intensity vibrations caused by the machine also caused more debris to fall. Additionally, the drilling had to stop again on Wednesday after hitting a metal girder, causing damage to the machine’s blades.
Despite the challenges, authorities have been providing the trapped workers with basic necessities such as hot meals and oxygen through pipes. The workers, who are mostly migrant laborers from across the country, have been keeping up their spirits by communicating with rescuers on walkie-talkies.
Families of the trapped workers have also been camped out at the accident site, hoping for a miracle. “We are all waiting here, hoping they come out,” said Haridwar Sharma, whose brother Sushil is among the workers. “It is not in our hands… the administration is at it, the machinery is there. With God’s blessing, we are hopeful.”
The tunnel collapse has also raised concerns about the environmental impact of the Chardham all-weather road project, a flagship initiative of the federal government. The project, which aims to connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites, has been criticized by some experts who say it will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas.