Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Ops

The rat-hole miners who played a vital role in evacuating 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel have refused to encash the cheques of Rs 50,000 given to them recently by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The entire nation watched with rapt attention as 41 workers were brought out to safety after 17 days inside a collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel.

The "softly, softly" approach to drilling escape holes was key to freeing the 41 men trapped beneath the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, tunnelling expert Arnold Dix told NDTV Wednesday.

The much-awaited breakthrough and the rescue of the 41 workers trapped in the Silkiyara Tunnel since November 12 has moved the focus back on the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) - the resilient force behind the Himalayan operation.

The rat miners who made the breakthrough in Uttarakhand, digging the last 12 metre stretch in less than 24 hours, had beaten expectations," said Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority).

As rescuers in India on Tuesday successfully pulled out all 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarakhand after 17 days, the global media hailed the rescue operation and provided live coverage of the development.

Forty-one ambulances remain on standby at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel's entrance, ready to whisk the workers away to the nearest medical facility.

The relatives of the 41 trapped workers have been asked to "be prepared" as rescuers said they are just five meters away from them.

A team of "rat-hole miners" began manual drilling operations yesterday to reach the 41 workers trapped within the debris of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi as rescue ops entered Day 17.

Manual horizontal digging will start soon in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, the National Disaster Management Authority, or NDMA, said today.

The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside an Uttarakhand tunnel for more than two weeks now has been a story of new challenges at every corner and rescue teams tweaking their plans to meet them.

A rain forecast and temperatures dropping to 4 degrees Celsius pose additional hurdles in the ongoing rescue operations to free 41 construction workers trapped under a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.

"All labourers are our brothers", said a civilian specialist Prasadilal who has been called in to carry out the manual drilling for the rescue of 41 trapped labourers in the Silkyara tunnel.

Sixteen days and over 380 hours into their ordeal, the 41 workers trapped under the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi may face an extended wait, possibly stretching by days or even weeks, before their rescue.

A protection umbrella is being laid inside the Silkyara tunnel, where 41 workers have been trapped for two weeks, to put up protection for the rescue team, official sources said.

The rat-hole miners who played a vital role in evacuating 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel have refused to encash the cheques of Rs 50,000 given to them recently by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The entire nation watched with rapt attention as 41 workers were brought out to safety after 17 days inside a collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel.

The "softly, softly" approach to drilling escape holes was key to freeing the 41 men trapped beneath the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand, tunnelling expert Arnold Dix told NDTV Wednesday.

The much-awaited breakthrough and the rescue of the 41 workers trapped in the Silkiyara Tunnel since November 12 has moved the focus back on the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) - the resilient force behind the Himalayan operation.

The rat miners who made the breakthrough in Uttarakhand, digging the last 12 metre stretch in less than 24 hours, had beaten expectations," said Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority).

As rescuers in India on Tuesday successfully pulled out all 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarakhand after 17 days, the global media hailed the rescue operation and provided live coverage of the development.

Forty-one ambulances remain on standby at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel's entrance, ready to whisk the workers away to the nearest medical facility.

The relatives of the 41 trapped workers have been asked to "be prepared" as rescuers said they are just five meters away from them.

A team of "rat-hole miners" began manual drilling operations yesterday to reach the 41 workers trapped within the debris of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi as rescue ops entered Day 17.

Manual horizontal digging will start soon in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, the National Disaster Management Authority, or NDMA, said today.

The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside an Uttarakhand tunnel for more than two weeks now has been a story of new challenges at every corner and rescue teams tweaking their plans to meet them.

A rain forecast and temperatures dropping to 4 degrees Celsius pose additional hurdles in the ongoing rescue operations to free 41 construction workers trapped under a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.

"All labourers are our brothers", said a civilian specialist Prasadilal who has been called in to carry out the manual drilling for the rescue of 41 trapped labourers in the Silkyara tunnel.

Sixteen days and over 380 hours into their ordeal, the 41 workers trapped under the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi may face an extended wait, possibly stretching by days or even weeks, before their rescue.

A protection umbrella is being laid inside the Silkyara tunnel, where 41 workers have been trapped for two weeks, to put up protection for the rescue team, official sources said.