Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Since this is not a simple task, we are considering all of our options. The only guarantee I can offer is that every team is working on it. Unable to determine the timeline, NDMA member Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain stated.
According to Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain of the National Disaster Management Authority, the new five-point rescue plan for the 41 men stranded in a Uttarakhand tunnel is centered on the horizontal drilling that would produce a shaft, he informed reporters today. – Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse
He clarified that the current priority is “saving lives” by stating that in addition to using a tunnel-boring machine from the front, they are also attempting to utilize blast to widen the tunnel’s entrance to enter a micro-boring machine inside.
The workers, who have been stuck in the tunnel since a collapse on November 12, won’t be in any danger, he promised, despite the delay.
There’s lots of room inside. There is around two kilometers of space. Inside, there is lighting provided. At the press conference, he stated, A 4-inch pipe that was available and didn’t get damaged so we had a lifeline. Air compression was used to force the survival ration via this conduit. He asserted that attempts had been made to advance medicine.
The families of a few workers have also been included to guarantee the emotional health of the workers.
“The hotels in a developed region have provided lodging for the families. They were even able to chat through it in one or two of the situations. Morale will improve the more the families communicate with them, he added.
A section of the 4.5-kilometer tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed, trapping the men. The tunnel, which connects Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi, is a part of the Char Dham project.
The workers, who escaped unharmed, are behind 200 meters of rocky debris in a 400-meter buffer zone. They are receiving food and water packages via a conduit. Thanks to the construction of a larger pipe, the workers had their first hot lunch in several days yesterday. Bottled khichdi was forced via an air compression pipe.
However, the rescue operations have encountered several obstacles.
Several initiatives to cut through the 40-meter rock wall have failed in the past week. The rock wall’s depth increased from around 40 to more than 70 meters when it also backfired twice, bringing down more stones and debris from the unplastered roof.
Attempts were made to use an American Auger drill that was flown in from Delhi on Friday, the day of the previous rockfall.
Work had to be halted until a replacement drill machine could be obtained since the one being used had broken down. Nonetheless, the Augur drill, which rapidly fractures the rock, is being continued by the authorities.
As per the present five-point design, a vertical shaft will be drilled from the top of the main tunnel, and two tunnels will be bored horizontally from the left and right sides of the tunnel.
Each component of the strategy has been assigned to five distinct agencies.
The multinational team of tunneling experts has advised the government. Along with the federal and state agencies in charge of disaster management, a robotics team from the Defense Research Organization (DRDO) is also there.
Ratnavali