Jharkhand govt team all set to airlift 15 state workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], November 22 (ANI): The Jharkhand government is set to airlift all 15 workers, belonging to the state, trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi.

A total of 41 workers are trapped inside the collapsed Silkyara tunnel, out of which 15 workers belong to Giridih, Ranchi, East Singhhum, and Khunti districts of Jharkhand.

“A team of the Jharkhand government is on standby in Uttarakashi. The workers will be airlifted from Dehradun to Ranchi once they are declared medically fit by the doctors”, said Rajesh Prasad, Joint Labour Commissioner, Government of Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, as rescue operations have intensified at the Silkyara tunnel collapse site in Uttarkashi, where 41 workers remain trapped, about 67 percent of augur drilling has been completed, with horizontal pipe being inserted up to 45 metres, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Former advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office, Bhaskar Khulbe, said on Wednesday that work for the next phase will start in another two hours.

Khulbe, who is also the Special Executive Officer in the Uttarakhand Tourism Department, said, “I am very happy to tell you that with the work we were doing for the last hour, we have drilled another 6-meter length with an American Oger machine. I am hopeful that in the next 2 hours, work will start for the next phase.”

The official announcement of laying a 39-meter pipeline was made in the earlier press conference.

With 6 metres of additional pipeline, the total work of laying the pipeline up to 45 metres has been completed.

Gabbar Singh Negi and Sabah Ahmed, who are among the 41 trapped labourers inside the tunnel, are boosting the morale of the others.

Yoga, Kirtan, walking and other activities are being made available to all the workers so that their morale remains uplifted.

NHIDCL has resumed horizontal boring from the Silkyara end to rescue workers using an Augur boring machine.

“As of date, 45 metres of pipes have been inserted,” an official statement said.

According to an official statement released by the government, the second lifeline for food distribution is functioning efficiently, ensuring an ample food supply like roti, sabzi, khichdi, daliya, oranges, and bananas, in addition to the supply of medicines and other essentials like clothes such as T-Shirt, undergarments, toothpaste, soap, etc.

“To give emergent safe passage to the rescue team, an escape passage by way of box culverts and pipes for a length of 67 metres has been completed,” the government said.

For the purpose of vertical drilling, SJVNL’s machine for the vertical rescue tunnel construction has arrived at the site and has been installed. The government said that ONGC is mobilising machinery from the USA, Mumbai, and Ghaziabad for vertical boring.

Earlier on November 12, 2023, a collapse occurred in the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to debris falling in a 60-meter stretch on the Silkyara side.

The area of entrapment, measuring 8.5 metres in height and 2 kilometres in length, is the built-up portion of the tunnel, offering safety to the labourers with available electricity and water supply.

Five agencies–ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL–have been assigned specific responsibilities, working collaboratively with occasional task adjustments for operational efficiency, the government said.