Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Six-Inch Pipe Installed For Food, Communication, Official Says 'First Breakthrough'

11/20/2023 2:02:20 PM

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "In a major breakthrough, rescue agencies installed a six-inch pipe inside the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand through which authorities can provide food and medicines for 41 workers trapped for over a week following a landslide on November 12, reported PTI Mansish Khalkho, director, NHIDCL, told the media that rescue workers were able to communicate with the workers through the newly installed pipe Read | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE Updates: 6-inch pipe installed to send more food, official calls it '1st achievement'\"We have achieved our first breakthrough, for which we had been trying for the last nine days and was our first priority. A 6-inch pipe has been installed and they (trapped workers) can hear us through it. We will now provide them with food and medical supplies through that pipe,\" he said Read | Who is Professor Arnold Dix, the underground expert in charge of Uttarkashi tunnel collapse rescue?
“The 'alternative 6-inch lifeline' reached the labourers after drilling 53 metres”, he added.
Earlier, the authorities had been sending dry-fruits, water and medicines via four-inch pipes inside the tunnel. The bigger-diameter pipe will help them send in solid food Read | Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: 'Not going back until...', women heroes play crucial role in saving 41 lives | Read here\"A relative of Deepak Kumar, who is one of the trapped labourers, talked with them and he told me that there is an atmosphere of happiness among the workers inside the tunnel,\" ANI quoted
Khalkho as saying RobotsMeanwhile, two robotics machines sent by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for rescue operation arrived at the site today morning and were pressed into operation.\"DRDO has sent 2 robots weighing 20 kg and 50 kg respectively. The robots move on the ground. The loose ground there has raised apprehensions whether the robots will be able to move there or not. Other machinery will be there within a day or two,\" Khalkho said Read | Should govt ask for Elon Musk's help to rescue workers stuck in Uttarkashi?“An attempt was made to use that machine inside, but as I told you, the strata and ruble inside (the tunnel) are very loose, so it was not successful there,\" he told ANI.
The rescue agencies are also attempting to drill into the tunnel perpendicularly tunnel in Uttarkashi of Uttarakhand, part of the Central government's ambitious Char Dham project, collapsed on November 12, entrapping 41 workers inside.

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