Rescue workers have drilled up to 25 metres through the rubble to reach the workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand for over 120 hours.
The rescuers need to drill up to 60 metres to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes with the help of a giant drill machine to create an escape passage for the stranded workers.
Rescuers had worked overnight using a new auger drill machine brought in from Delhi and managed to drill up to 25 metre through the debris, after which the machine hit a metal part inside.
Anshu Manish Khalkho, Director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), said that efforts are being made to cut through the metal part using a gas cutter and drilling work was currently halted.
Mr Khalkho said they are airlifting another machine from Indore which will reach the site tomorrow morning.
He said pushing pipes through debris takes more time than drilling holes. "We need to make sure that there are no cracks in pipes after wielding, " he said.
The round-the-clock rescue work is being helmed by 165 personnel from multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, BRO, and the ITBP.
Elite rescue teams from Thailand and Norway, including the one that successfully rescued the trapped children from a cave in Thailand in 2018, have joined the rescuers to aid in the ongoing rescue operation.
The trapped workers are safe and being provided oxygen, medicines, food and water through air compressed pipes.
Officials said constant communication is being maintained with them, ensuring their spirits remain unbroken and their hope alive.
The workers have been trapped inside the tunnel since Sunday morning when a part of the under-construction structure near Uttarkashi collapsed following a landslide.
The under-construction tunnel is part of the ambitious Char Dham project, a national infrastructure initiative to enhance connectivity to the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
