Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse: Officials say they are hopeful of rescuing the workers by this evening.
About 40 workers are trapped inside a tunnel after the under construction structure collapsed in Uttarakhand yesterday, prompting the authorities to launch a mega search and rescue operation.
Rescue workers said that the workers trapped for over 24 are safe and a communication has been established with them
Officials say they are hopeful of rescuing the workers by this evening.
Search and Rescue Operation
About 160 rescue workers are trying to reach the trapped labourers with the help of drilling equipment and excavators.
The rescue operation is being conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) and the police.
An escape passage is being created to reach the trapped workers, and the distance to reach them is approximately 60 meters. Officials said that 20 metres of slab blocking the wide tunnel has been removed so far, and about 35 metres is yet to be cleared.
Attempts are being made to stabilise the constantly falling loose debris which is delaying the workers' rescue, they said.
Trapped Workers Safe
All 40 workers are safe and the rescue team was able to contact them early this morning through walkie-talkie.
Initial contact was made via a note on a scrap of paper, but later rescuers managed to connect using radio handsets.
Two water pipelines are being used by the officials for food and oxygen supply. "They have been sent food items through one pipeline, and additional oxygen is being supplied to them through the second pipeline," officials said.
A Disaster response official said that while the men were trapped, they have a buffer of around 400 metres to walk and breathe.
The workers are from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, officials said.
The Collapse
The tunnel is meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi. It is being built under the Char Dham Road Project and aims to reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 kilometres.
A senior NDRF official said that investigation is on to ascertain the exact reaon for the collapse. He said that the plaster has been done for only 200 meters from the starting point of the tunnel, and not beyond that -which could have led to the collapse.
"There are 40 people inside and all of them are safe. Plaster has been done for 200 meters from the starting point of the tunnel but there is no plaster beyond that, hence it has suddenly subsided," news agency quoted Karamveer Singh, NDRF Assistant Commander, as saying.